DC Police Chief: 75 percent of homicide cases closed this year, robberies down

WASHINGTON - Residents and business owners in Logan Circle gathered Wednesday night to have their voices heard at a community meeting to discuss efforts to combat crime in the area. The meeting was attended by D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

The summer months are just around the corner and the homicide count is already higher than it was last year at the same time.

Chief Lanier met with the residents to discuss the current state of crime in Washington D.C. So far in the District, Lanier said 75 percent of homicide cases this year have been closed with an arrest. Also, more than half of the 40 homicides that have happened in 2016 have occurred on the other side of the river.

"We have made a lot of progress and we are looking pretty good going into the summer," said Lanier. "This is beginning of kind of where we start to see spikes. Right now, we are in good shape. We want to keep it that way though.

"I think the most important thing in our violent crime issue has been robberies. We started out in the beginning of the year up around 30 or 40 percent. We have dropped that down to around 9 percent right now. We are going in the right direction. The robbery task force has been pretty effective. We just have to keep the pressure on."

The police chief was asked about crime on Metro and how she felt considering the recent crime spike in the transit system. She said, "It may not be politically correct to say this - they have good police, but not enough."

Ironically, Lanier said if the number of rank-and-file officers in D.C. ever dropped below 3,800, she would need to worry. The police union said the department is currently 300 officers below that number.