DC Police Chief celebrates first anniversary with falling crime rate

In her first year as the district’s police chief, Pamela Smith is touting crime data that shows a drop in crime this year compared to the same period last year, including a drop in the number of murders, car thefts and robberies.

The chief, who takes the helm of the Metropolitan Police Department in 2023 after 25 years with the U.S. Park Police, said stricter laws, tougher enforcement and improved police tactics have helped reduce crime.

“When you talk about the numbers, we’re seeing a 33% decrease in violent crime, a 38% decrease in robberies, and a 48% decrease in auto thefts,” Police Chief Smith told WTOP.

When the chief joined the department last year, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Council were in the process of rolling back some criminal justice reforms that had been introduced in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Smith said she was not sure what to blame for the rapid rise in crime in the city after 2020

“I would say that the laws that were passed, I think, played a critical role. … The emergency legislation that was passed, ‘Safer Stronger DC,’ ‘ACT Now,’ and all of those laws, I think, resulted in laws that helped us reduce crime in the District,” Smith said.

Hold criminals accountable

Recent laws such as Secure DC and Safer, Stronger DC, among others, have increased penalties for violent crimes and increased the number of people charged with a violent crime that DC Supreme Court judges are required to detain until trial.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for DC has also increased the number of charges filed under Title 16, which charges some juveniles accused of violent crimes as adults.

DC crime data as of July 17 shows that there have been 98 murders so far this year, compared to 134 during the same period last year – a 26% reduction. Assaults with dangerous weapons are down 27% and auto thefts are down 34%.

Overall crime in DC has decreased by 18% compared to the same period last year.

“I think we’re seeing a combination of a lot of different things. Individuals are being held accountable, they’re being held in prisons instead of being released and getting back into their community. We’re seeing judges, we’re seeing the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office deploying law enforcement to help us when it comes to the same individuals committing the same crimes,” she said.

Staff shortage and request for help from the public

The Metropolitan Police Department remains understaffed — as are police departments across the region and the country — but Smith says DC is doing well compared to some other agencies.

“We haven’t seen a significant decline. In fact, we’ve seen a 30 percent reduction in our turnover rate. We haven’t seen as many people leaving the job or retiring as we thought we would. And that’s a good sign for us. That tells me we have members who still want to stay in this profession,” Smith said.

She said an important step residents, business owners and institutions can take to reduce crime is to participate in the CameraConnect DC program.

The program involves registering video cameras such as Ring cameras, doorbell cameras and cameras from private security systems with the city so that police know the locations of video cameras, which can help in the event of a public safety threat or after a crime. The city also offers security camera discounts to residents, businesses, nonprofits and religious institutions.

“This is exactly what we need because it really helps us reduce crime,” Smith said.

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