DC crime statistics show spikes in first 12 days of 2023
Rachel Schilke
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Washington, D.C., is seeing a spike in crime across the board compared to acts committed at about this time in 2022.
Motor vehicle thefts are up 89% from 2022. As of Wednesday, there had been 189 motor vehicle thefts in 2023. There were 100 by this time in 2022, according to the city’s crime statistics database.
Homicides are up 40%. D.C. has already seen seven homicides compared to five at this time in 2022. Violent crime overall is up 3%.
Only two categories are down so far in 2023. They are burglary at minus 23% and robbery at minus 3%.
Overall, 976 crimes have been committed in D.C. since the start of 2023 — 38% higher than this time in 2022.
There have already been two high-profile shootings in the district this year.
On Jan. 7, Karon Blake, 13, was shot and killed after a longtime D.C. government employee saw him allegedly breaking into vehicles on a street in northeast D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
KARON BLAKE SHOOTING: SUSPECT IN DEATH OF 13-YEAR-OLD BOY IS A DC GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE
The shooting of a minor prompted widespread outrage and demands for accountability from the D.C. community. People are asking police to release the accused employee’s name and place of work.
Four days later, two children, ages 6 and 9, and an adult man were shot in northwest D.C. after an assault on an unharmed Metrobus passenger led to shots being fired outside of the transit bus. The three sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The last months of 2022 in D.C. were riddled with crime, most notably the multiple shootings at the D.C. Metro transit system in December.
However, the city’s database shows crime decreased between 2021 and 2022 in most categories except for arson, which saw no change.
In an open letter to the community, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said that 203 people lost their lives to “senseless violence” in 2022.
“That’s 203 too many, period,” Contee said.
“Over and over, we see people turning to illegal guns to commit acts of violence. It is completely unacceptable, and it must stop now.”
He said that while the statistics decreasing does not bring comfort to families that lost people to crime, it is up to the community to continue the downward trend of violence in D.C.
“We can’t do this alone. In every incident, someone knows something,” Contee said. “It might seem like something small, but that information could be a piece of the puzzle that helps our detectives solve cases and bring justice to loved ones of victims.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to Bowser’s office for comment.