DC area police departments to host National Night Out Tuesday
WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, police departments across the entire greater D.C. region will be hosting events to bond with the communities for this year’s National Night Out.
Click on the department to see what some of our area police departments have planned:
National Night Out 2024 comes after a deadly year last year, with most of the region seeing both homicides and total violent spike – and it’s not exactly over.
In Prince George’s County, for example, carjackings are down. However, homicides and total violent crime stats are up.
In neighboring Washington D.C., the District ended 2023 with a nearly two-decade high number of murders: 274. This year, the city’s seen at least 114 murders.
DC’s elected leaders have been echoing that while there have been over 100 so far this year, the number of homicides is actually down 29% so far this year compared to the same time last year. Total violent crime is down 35% according to Tuesday’s D.C. Police stats.
FOX 5 asked about what type of complications D.C. Police are still seeing when it comes to youth engaged in crime, especially, and how police hope National Night Out will help address this.
"I don’t think that we’re having complications," said MPD Assistant Chief Andre Wright, "I think the fact that crime is trending down significantly is due in large part to our communications with the community. And that’s one of the things we get to highlight on [National Night Out] – talk about how people are feeling due to the open challenges of communication. And also to discuss things that we can do differently and places that we need to pivot, based on what the community as a whole, at large, has seen. So I definitely understand your question, but I think that -- that our relationship with the public and our specific community, I think, is as better as I’ve seen it in years."
FOX 5 also spoke with area community activist Jay Brown, who operates under the effort called, "Community Shoulders." Brown’s work includes trying to facilitate conversations between the D.C. community and city leadership.
"We have had a two-year-old shot. We had the double homicide just over the weekend. Anytime an official, the mayor, the chief of police, Lindsay Appiah, the deputy mayor of public safety say crime is down, you’re disrespecting the victims of crimes that we’ve had this year. You’re disrespecting the families of those victims," said Brown.
"I hope during these events, that there are some honest conversations that extend beyond [National Night Out]. Some honest conversations about what works for ‘this’ specific community ‘this’ specific area."
Both with different perspectives, both men also agree important conversations need to be had – hoping it will happen on National Night Out.
Do the families and children who actually need help – and who the police hope to meet with – actually participate?
FOX 5 spoke with Beverly Smith, a leader of the group, "Voices of Black Mothers United." She’s also the founder of "Mammas Safe Haven," which reaches out to the families of crime victims. Smith tells FOX 5 while she understands the skepticism, she believes National Night Out is very important.
"I’m excited that it happens in the summertime because, unfortunately, crime is higher in the summertime, and I think it’s most important during this time because our youth are out in the community, and it gives them an opportunity to see police in a better light, other than just seeing them show up when something’s going wrong," said Smith, "I think it really leans a lot on the community organizations. Community organizations like – I have a community organization, ‘Mamama’s Safe Haven,’ we bring our youth out. So it’s really in partnership. So that’s the great thing about it, it really shows the strength in partnerships with the community and the police department, because the community organizations bring the youth out and then shares the information with families."
Smith believes the mindset around reporting crimes and working together needs to change in order to truly address crime. She’s also planning to award the D.C. Police, telling FOX 5 Chief Pamela A. Smith has brought a human face to the department.
One change Chief Smith gets credit for from activists and other members of her department, is the community walks she’s instituted, allowing those who may not be able to attend a community meeting a chance to still meet authorities and have their concerns heard.
Assistant Chief Wright tells FOX 5 National Night Out is just as important to the officers, as it is to the community members.
"The officers are excited. You know, obviously, being a police officer, sometimes we have the unfortunate event to show up in neighborhoods in some of the worst times that people are having and so they see us a lot in that regards. But we crave the opportunity to also show up in a positive light when it’s not a tragic," he said.