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Tag: pamela smith

  • DC police Chief Smith gives fiery speech at walkout ceremony – WTOP News

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    D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith dug in to her preacher roots to deliver a fiery speech as she prepares to leave her position amid allegations of crime data tampering.

    Outgoing D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith had some strong parting words Friday as she gets ready to leave the department amid allegations of manipulating data to make it seem that crime decreased in the District.

    “Let’s be really clear about one thing: Never would I, never will I, ever compromise my integrity for a few crime numbers,” she said at a walkout ceremony in her honor. “Never would I ever compromise 28 years in law enforcement for a few folk who couldn’t stand to be held accountable! And if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it again!”

    The fiery remarks came in response to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s accusations of crime data tampering.

    Smith, who is also a reverend at a Baptist church in D.C., started her speech by giving thanks to God and later added she would never “compromise my love for God or the faith that I had for this city” by manipulating crime data.

    “How dare you? How dare you attack my integrity? Attack my character? You don’t know who I belong to!” she said.

    In a release from the House committee on Sunday, officials said Smith allegedly “punished and removed officers for reporting accurate crime numbers and fostered a toxic culture.”

    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser rebuked those claims, adding in a letter that the committee’s report was biased “from the outset” and based on one side of the story.

    “Rather than letting the investigation proceed and risk losing the opportunity for attention grabbing headlines if it were released after Chief Smith’s retirement after nearly three decades of law enforcement service, the Committee stooped to ad hominem attacks using cherry-picked quotes without providing additional relevant context,” the mayor wrote.

    Smith is the second woman and first Black woman to serve as D.C.’s police chief. On Dec. 8, she said that she would be stepping down at the end of the month in order to spend more time with family after a nearly 30-year career in law enforcement.

    Smith, in the two-and-a-half years she’s served as the police force’s chief, has touted low crime data — with violent crime in general dropping from 5,345 cases in 2023 to 2,341 as of Dec. 5, 2025.

    “I don’t have to talk about what I’ve done in this city, may the work I’ve done speak for me,” she said.

    The House committee, however, supported President Donald Trump’s assertion that the federal law enforcement surge from his August crime emergency declaration is what led to lower crime numbers.

    In late August, Trump said the city was “extremely unsafe, and now it’s extremely safe. We had virtually no crime. The number was down 87% and I’m trying to figure out where was the 13% because I don’t think it existed.”

    Smith will be stepping down at the end of the month. Executive Assistant Chief of Specialized Operations Jeffery Carroll will serve as interim chief of the D.C. police department.

    At the end of her speech, Smith gave one last fiery rebuke to her “haters”: “F you … I forgive you.”

    Watch a portion of her speech below from 7News:

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Ciara Wells

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  • Bowser talks about the next steps in the District’s response to the House Committee’s report on crime data manipulation – WTOP News

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    D.C.’s inspector general will be looking into the House Committee’s reports on accusations against the District’s outgoing police chief.

    Outgoing D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith has been accused by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of manipulating crime data to maintain the appearance of low crime in the District.

    On Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser talked about the next steps D.C. is taking following the release of the report.

    Bowser said that they are digging further into the reports and data as they look into the allegations of crime data manipulation by outgoing Chief Smith.

    “The reports that have been issued leave a lot to be desired in terms of evidence and context,” Bowser said.

    She said she will be asking for an internal review of the accusations.

    “I am going to be asking the D.C. inspector general to look at the questions that were raised in those two reports,” she said.

    When asked about those people who have left the department and how far back the review will go, Mayor Bowser said, “I expect that the inspector general’s review will be inclusive of all the data allegations.”

    On Monday, Bowser lambasted the U.S. House Oversight Committee’s report accusing the city’s police chief of leading a pressure campaign to alter crime data. She questioned the Republican-led committee’s political motivation, methodology and timing.

    “The interim report betrays its bias from the outset, admitting that it was rushed to release,” Bowser wrote in a letter.

    Last week, Smith announced that she would be stepping down on Dec. 31 after two years in the position. Smith has said she doesn’t believe any crime numbers were manipulated during her tenure.

    Bowser has tapped Jeffery Carroll to serve as interim chief of the D.C. police department following Smith’s resignation.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Valerie Bonk

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  • Bowser slams ‘politically motivated’ House committee report on DC crime data – WTOP News

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    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser lambasted the House Oversight Committee’s report accusing the city’s police chief of leading a pressure campaign to alter crime data.

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    Bowser slams ‘politically motivated’ House committee report on DC crime data

    In a letter sent Monday to the chair and members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser lambasted its report accusing the city’s police chief of leading a pressure campaign to alter crime data and questioned the Republican-led committee’s political motivation, methodology and timing.

    The committee’s findings, released Sunday, accuse D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith of pressuring subordinates to change the classification of crimes, creating the illusion of a safer city.

    As part of its investigation, the committee said it interviewed the commanders of all seven D.C. patrol districts, and a former commander currently placed on suspended leave. In her letter, Bowser pointed out the committee elected not to interview Smith or any of her assistant chiefs.

    Bowser went on to accuse the committee of crafting a biased report based on one side of the story — the side she said the committee believed to be true before it even began its investigation.

    “Even a cursory review of the report reveals its prejudice: of the 22 block quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by only two command officials interviewed,” Bowser wrote.

    Smith is the second woman and first Black woman to serve as D.C.’s police chief. She announced Dec. 8 she’d be stepping down at the end of the month in order to spend more time with family after a nearly 30-year career in law enforcement.

    The committee, in its report, states it released the partial findings after her resignation “to add context to this decision,” and says its investigation will continue. But the committee’s chair, Republican Rep. James Comer, called on her step down immediately after the report’s release.

    “The interim report betrays its bias from the outset, admitting that it was rushed to release,” Bowser wrote.

    “Rather than letting the investigation proceed and risk losing the opportunity for attention grabbing headlines if it were released after Chief Smith’s retirement after nearly three decades of law enforcement service, the Committee stooped to ad hominem attacks using cherry-picked quotes without providing additional relevant context,” she continued later in her letter.

    It’s one of the stronger rebukes from Bowser toward Republicans, who’ve repeatedly targeted her city’s handling of crime and homelessness.

    When President Donald Trump’s administration seized more control over D.C.’s police department and deployed National Guard Troops on city streets in August, Bowser, while critical of the approach, largely cooperated.

    Since that law enforcement surge began, Trump and other members of his Republican administration have been taking credit for lowering crime in the nation’s capital, something Bowser mentioned in her letter.

    “The irony of the interim report’s questioning of the Department’s crime statistics, which have been widely lauded in the last several months, is not lost on me. We know that crime had spiked in 2023 and it is undisputed that under Chief Smith’s tenure, crime has decreased significantly. This is corroborated by independent data on visits to District hospitals for firearm injuries, she wrote.”

    Bowser wrote that she will hold any official accountable who does intentionally alter crime data, and that she stands ready to work with the committee to continue to reduce crime and improve public safety in D.C.

    U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said Monday her office has been investigating D.C.’s crime data reporting since August, and that no criminal charges will be filed as a result of that investigation. However, Pirro said her probe found “a significant number of reports had been misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it was.”

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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  • DC leaders outline priorities for next police chief after Pamela Smith’s retirement – WTOP News

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    Once a nomination for a new police chief is made by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will hold confirmation hearings before the full council gets a vote.

    Once a nomination for a new police chief is made by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will hold confirmation hearings before the full council gets a vote.

    Among those on that committee is Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, who said he’s looking for a chief who can handle several priorities at once.

    “Certainly, working to have trust in the community, and after what we have seen this last year, a chief that’s prioritizing rebuilding trust with the community and those that do not like to see MPD alongside federal enforcement, alongside ICE officers,” Allen told WTOP.

    Earlier this year, outgoing Chief Pamela Smith and D.C. Police received criticism for working alongside federal officers during President Donald Trump’s administration’s federal law enforcement surge. Many said that move conflicted with D.C.’s Sanctuary Values law and eroded community trust.

    Allen said that trust element is crucial because, despite efforts in recent years to build relationships between police and residents, those ties were strained by the federal surge.

    “There’s no escaping the fact that the decisions made by the chief to have them collaborate and work with ICE and federal law enforcement, I think, has strained the trust for a lot of folks in our city,” Allen said.

    Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, who chairs the committee, said the next chief has a big role to fill ahead. She wants someone who can rebuild the department’s ranks, strengthen trust with the community and keep federal interference out of local policing.

    “It is critical that the next Chief of Police is committed to honoring the letter and the spirit of our Sanctuary Values law to protect every single resident of our city and to ensure the policy is implemented fairly and with fidelity,” Pinto said in a statement.

    Pinto also stressed the need to recruit and retain officers while maintaining integrity and accountability within the department.

    Allen also believes the next chief must build trust within the department itself.

    “They’ve got to have the trust of the men and women in the department — that’s both the patrol officer as well as the white shirts, that leadership that you see up in the ranks — and that’s a tricky thing, and they’ve got to be able to have that,” he said.

    Allen is also looking for someone who goes beyond the data and takes the time to truly get to know all the communities the department serves.

    “The downside, or the risk you have to being solely data driven, is that you end up over-policing some parts of our city, rather than really focusing on safety and justice and being fair and building community,” Allen said.

    He also believes Mayor Bowser and the D.C. police department must decide if the search is about finding just an interim chief, so the next mayor can choose a permanent leader, because both will need to work closely together.

    “Regardless of who it is, you want that mayor to have somebody that they trust in that position and somebody that we trust,” Allen said.

    When it comes to who is chosen, Allen believes the next leader could come from within the department.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • DC leaders consider reestablishing youth curfew zones permanently – WTOP News

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    D.C. Council members are hearing from members of the public and law enforcement on the effectiveness of last summer’s youth curfew zones and whether they should be put pack in place.

    D.C. Council members are hearing from members of the public and law enforcement on the effectiveness of last summer’s youth curfew zones and whether or not it should be put pack in place this winter.

    Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, assembled members of the public and local leaders for a roundtable Thursday on the subject.

    The council voted to let the curfew zones expire Oct. 5, ending the summerlong emergency legislation that gave the police chief the authority to declare certain parts of the city as expanded juvenile curfew zones.

    “Over the summer, during which seven juvenile curfew zones were declared, MPD reported that they had zero curfew violations and zero arrests,” Pinto said. “We also have to make sure that we have tools to prevent these limited instances of disruptive behavior before it occurs.”

    Those zones banned anyone under 18 from gathering in groups of nine or more from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with some exceptions.

    D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith testified that since the curfew zones ended, her department is seeing more instances of young people gathering in large groups and causing problems. She cited two recent examples that happened on Oct. 13.

    In one incident, she said a group of 100 or more teenagers and young adults gathered at the Navy Yard then went to Union Station, running into traffic along the way and damaging some road signs and trash cans. She said in that incident, a 14-year-old was struck by a car and received minor injuries.

    In the other incident on the same day, Smith said a group of 60-70 teenagers ransacked the movie theater at Gallery Place, causing property damage and stealing about $200 worth of candy. She said one person was struck in the forehead by a bottle thrown by one of the teens. She did not say whether any arrests were made.

    “As a result of this proactive effort, MPD did not cite any youth curfew violations in the zones during the active hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., nor were there any large gatherings,” Smith said, adding the curfew zones should be in place permanently.

    She acknowledged some council members are against the curfews entirely.

    “But that is not where we are right now,” Smith said.

    “True public safety comes from addressing the root causes with robust youth programs and accountability,” Ward 8 Council member Trayon White said, adding that he saw curfews as a “short-term fix” and not a solution to youth delinquency.

    “I’m not inclined to support a permanent application of this curfew,” Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker said. “It was supposed to get us through the summer or winter while we work on something more long-term, maybe it does not exist yet.”

    Pinto said the vast majority of city youth are doing well, and that should be encouraged. She said she supported funding to “create new recording studios for our kids, making sure that our D.C. public libraries have spaces for young people.”

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Alan Etter

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  • ‘Very frustrating’: DC leaders urge council to adopt stricter curfew after rise in ‘juvenile activity’ – WTOP News

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    In response to a surge in juvenile-related incidents, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith are urging the D.C. Council to reinstate and strengthen the juvenile curfew.

    D.C.’s mayor and police chief are urging the city’s council to again adopt a stricter juvenile curfew, in response to a spike in what’s being described as “juvenile activity.”

    At an unrelated event Monday, Police Chief Pamela Smith said the uptick has been reported over the last few weekends.

    Since it expired, Mayor Muriel Bowser has called for lawmakers to adopt a curfew similar to the one implemented over the summer. That curfew started at 11 p.m. and came in response to large gatherings that Bowser and Smith said sometimes resulted in crime.

    A recent proposal described plans for an even stricter version of the city’s existing juvenile curfew. It would apply to everyone under 18 and allow Smith to create designated zones in which an 8 p.m. curfew for large groups could be implemented. But the measure was delayed during a council meeting earlier this month.

    Bowser’s and Smith’s concerns came after reports of shootings and carjackings in the nation’s capital. Twelve people were shot in seven separate incidents, a police spokesman said, and there were several carjackings. Three people have been arrested and charged with having a gun, though nobody has officially been charged in any of the weekend’s shootings.

    “Right now, they don’t feel like there’s any accountability,” Smith said. “So they’re starting to do the same thing all over again, and it is very frustrating.”

    Smith said police have been reviewing crime trends ever since the council delayed taking action on the stricter curfew. The emergency legislation, which Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto introduced, would allow the curfew plan to remain in place until the end of the year.

    Days after the proposed legislation stalled, Smith said, “The young people came out. They started putting flyers out, and really began to participate in that same behavior that they had before. It’s a challenge for us because we’re short resources.”

    While Smith said the agency has “federal partners helping in this space,” police are returning to many places they’ve been before, ensuring the proper help is in place.

    Though President Donald Trump’s crime emergency in D.C. has expired, federal officers and agents have remained. Bowser said Monday the number of federal police in D.C. has not gone down “precipitously.”

    Juvenile crime becoming increasingly ‘predictable’

    In some cases, kids are putting flyers on social media with a call to action. They’re usually organizing meetups to fight, Smith said, “and that has to stop, and so we’ll continue to monitor social media pages.”

    In one recent instance near Rhode Island Avenue, Smith said a large group of kids stopped a man’s car. He got out and tried to move them out of the way, Smith said, “and then they ended up assaulting him.” As the man left the car, two kids jumped into it, Smith said. There are 10 to 12 young people that police are investigating in connection with the incident.

    Meanwhile, Smith said one shooting Friday started with a fight at Kelly Miller Middle School between two groups of girls. The school de-escalated the situation, but the groups then met in front of a different school and fought again. One person tried to break up the fight, and Smith said a young person pulled out a gun, “discharging the firearm.”

    Each of the 12 people shot last weekend is expected to survive, a D.C. police spokesman said.

    “What we saw over the weekend was unacceptable,” Bowser said. “But sadly, it was predictable with young people wiling out, because they got the message that they could, and they are.”

    The juvenile curfew, Bowser said, has been “effective in deterring these large groups of young people congregating, who may have guns and who may use guns.”

    Under the summer variation of the curfew, groups of nine or more kids weren’t allowed to congregate in an area designated as a special curfew zone between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

    A roundtable on the proposal to extend the more strict juvenile curfew and curfew zones is scheduled for Thursday morning.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Scott Gelman

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  • Maryland woman sentenced to 20 years for sexually abusing 8-year-old – WTOP News

    Maryland woman sentenced to 20 years for sexually abusing 8-year-old – WTOP News

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    Washington, D.C., officials have announced a sentence for a 42-year-old woman found guilty of sexually abusing an 8-year-old child in 2015 and 2016.

    Washington, D.C., officials have announced a sentence for a 42-year-old woman found guilty of sexually abusing an 8-year-old child in 2015 and 2016.

    Griselda Martinez-Moz, of Maryland, was sentenced to two decades in prison — 10 years for each first-degree child sexual abuse charge — according to a Friday news release from U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith.

    “Upon her release, Martinez-Moz will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of her life,” the statement said.

    Martinez-Moz was found guilty in March following a seven-day trial in D.C. Superior Court. During the trial, evidence and testimony presented showed Martinez-Moz subjected the unidentified child “on multiple occasions” to “sexual acts.”

    Additional details on the case were not provided in the release.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Ivy Lyons

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  • DC police chief asks small business owners to help stop crime – WTOP News

    DC police chief asks small business owners to help stop crime – WTOP News

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    During a panel on Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith asked small business owners to let police have access to their cameras to help stop crime.

    On Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith joined Peter Kilpatrick, president of Catholic University, at the 2024 Potomac Conference on Public Safety.

    As Kilpatrick was wrapping up his thoughts, Smith looked over at the panel moderator, Elliot Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC. He immediately shook his head, understanding that D.C.’s top police officer had one last thing to say.

    “I just want to add one thing. I’m in an environment with private industry business,” Smith said. “One of the things that we’ve launched with the Real Time Crime Center is the ability to be able to connect your cameras.”

    The theme of the panel discussion was “Collaboration for Success: Strategies, Resources, and Trust-Building,” and was in collaboration with the Board of Trade, Council of Governments, the Greater Washington Partnership and the Consortium of Universities.

    During the roughly 40-minute talk, both Smith and Metro Transit Chief Michael Anzallo spoke of how the crime rates have dropped during this calendar year.

    Smith said, to date, the Metropolitan Police Department has nearly 40,000 cameras that are connected to the Real Time Crime Center through CameraConnect D.C.

    “We are asking you, your partners, your business, please connect your cameras to our Real Time Crime Center,” Smith said. “If you have business, mom-and-pop stores, we really want to use your cameras.”

    Afterward, Smith spoke to WTOP and made another appeal to business owners.

    “Please, please, please, allow the Metropolitan Police Department to have access to those cameras,” Smith said. “It helps us move into the area quicker and make the appropriate arrests of those individuals who are creating havoc in our city.”

    Smith also spoke of the crime drop that the District has seen since January.

    “We’ve had a 30% reduction in violent crime, 31% reduction in robberies. We’ve seen a very, very good decrease in carjackings at 47%,” Smith said. “We know we still have work to do, but we have to keep pushing.”

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    Ciara Wells

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  • 6 people shot, including 2 children, in DC’s Carver-Langston neighborhood – WTOP News

    6 people shot, including 2 children, in DC’s Carver-Langston neighborhood – WTOP News

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    A total of six people were shot in D.C.’s Carver Langston neighborhood Wednesday night after police said two shooters got out of a vehicle and opened fire on people outside.

    Six people were shot in D.C.’s Carver-Langston neighborhood Wednesday evening after police said two shooters got out of a vehicle and opened fire on people outside. One man was killed; two young boys, one woman and two other men were wounded.

    D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said that around 6:10 p.m., officers responded to calls for a shooting in the 1100 block of 21st Street NE and found multiple people who had been shot. Among the wounded were two boys, one 9-year-old and a 12-year-old, Smith said during a news conference.

    All five who were wounded in the shooting do not have life-threatening injuries, Smith said.

    Minutes after the shooting, Smith said the city’s Real Time Crime Center was able to obtain images of the suspect vehicle in the shooting. Those images have been shared on D.C. police’s social media accounts and Smith urged anyone with information to come forward.

    Smith described the vehicle police are looking for as a gray or light blue, four-door sedan with heavy tint, a white paper tag on the rear, no tag on the front and a spare tire on the front passenger side.

    “This is another example, and I’ve been here before in this space, of violence that we cannot, we just cannot, accept in our communities. My condolences go out to the families and friends who were impacted by this senseless gun violence tonight,” she said.

    Anyone with any information pertaining to this incident is asked to call D.C. detectives at 202-727-9099 or text 50411.

    Below is a map of where the shooting took place:

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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  • Bowser, DC police chief huddle with grassroots leaders to combat crime problem – WTOP News

    Bowser, DC police chief huddle with grassroots leaders to combat crime problem – WTOP News

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    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and police Chief Pamela Smith led a public safety summit Saturday with grassroots leaders to address the city’s ongoing crime problem.

    D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a public safety summit at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in Northeast D.C. (WTOP/Dick Uliano)

    Facing a continuous threat of violent crime — and in particular, juvenile violent crime — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and police Chief Pamela Smith led a public safety summit Saturday with grassroots leaders of the city.

    ANC commissioners from across the city sat down with Bowser and Smith at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast, where Bowser urged support for sweeping anti-crime measures that are scheduled to face a second vote Tuesday in the D.C. Council.

    The bundle of bills, called Secure DC, would strengthen laws against crimes including carjackings, retail theft, drug dealing, discharging firearms and domestic violence.

    “We want to be safe. We want to have opportunities for everyone to live their best lives in D.C. We believe in second chances. But we also believe in accountability and that if people choose violence, they have to be held accountable,” Bowser told commissioners.

    Commissioners were shown a graphic that displayed changes in public safety across the District since 2012, including dramatic increases in homicides, a greater number of guns, more juvenile violent crime, fewer police officers and fewer juveniles in the custody of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

    ANC commissioners at public safety event
    ANC commissioners from across the District sit at the public safety summit. (WTOP/Dick Uliano)

    While higher rates of carjackings and homicides were recorded in D.C. during 2023, Smith was able to share some good news with commissioners: a decline in crime rates during the first two months of 2024.

    “We have an overall 10% reduction in crime citywide. We are seeing reductions in almost every category of crime today. And although we’re two months in of the year, I continue to tell my team that we have to keep our foot on the gas in order to ensure that we can reduce crime across the city,” Smith said.

    From 2012 to 2023, the number of homicides in D.C. climbed from 104 to 274; guns recovered swelled from 1,330 to 3,135; and the number of D.C. police officers decreased from 3,972 to 3,337.

    Comparing the same two years, carjackings by juveniles skyrocketed from nine in 2012 to 197 in 2023 and juvenile homicides rose from six to 19.

    “There’s been a huge uptick in crime, which is going against nationwide trends … we’ve had carjackings in my single-member district, we had someone killed in my ANC just recently and we’ve had a lot of robberies and other things of that nature,” said Emily Singer Lucio, the advisory neighborhood commissioner for Michigan Park and North Michigan Park.

    Singer Lucio added that she thinks lawbreakers must be held to account.

    “I’m all for restorative justice, but if (crime) repeats itself over and over again, someone needs to be held accountable,” she said.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Dick Uliano

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  • Store manager facilitated string of 7 robberies at same DC Walgreens, police say – WTOP News

    Store manager facilitated string of 7 robberies at same DC Walgreens, police say – WTOP News

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    The same person committed seven armed robberies at the same Walgreens, according to D.C. police. Officials are also saying the suspect had help from inside the store.

    D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith and others walk past the Chinatown Walgreens, the site of at least seven armed robberies between July and February.(WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    The Walgreens in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood has been robbed at gunpoint seven times since July of last year. Police said the same person committed each of the armed robberies, and are now announcing he had help from inside the store.

    Michael Robinson, 33, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, worked as a manager at the Walgreens during the string of robberies and has been charged with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery. His nephew, 26-year-old D.C. resident Gianni Robinson, faces the same charge.

    At a press conference Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said the conspiracy case “invoked fear in the community.”

    According to D.C. police and the FBI, 24-year-old D.C. resident Kamanye Williams entered the store at least seven times between July and February, taking money from the safe in the manager’s office at gunpoint each time.

    Since July, Chief Smith said police have been working with the FBI on the robberies that targeted the store.

    Police said during the most recent robbery on Sunday Williams was shot by a special police officer. Williams was critically injured and remains in a local hospital at this time.

    In at least one instance, the robber is captured on surveillance video looking at a phone while punching in the code to the locked manager’s office. In that same robbery, police said Michael Robinson served as Williams’ driver beforehand and afterward.

    During several other robberies, Michael Robinson was working as the on-duty manager.

    Gianni Robinson was connected to the robberies through cellphone location data, according to charging documents. Investigators said he was traveling with the robbery suspect immediately before and after certain robberies.

    Police also said Gianni Robinson was dating a different manager of the Walgreens, who, during one of the robberies, emptied around $3,000 into the robber’s backpack while being held at gunpoint along with a special police officer. Authorities have not announced charges against that store manager.

    Williams faces armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping and other charges when he’s out of the hospital.

    WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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