On the surface, Tuesday looked like any other summer’s day in the nation’s capital, with tourists crowding the Smithsonian museums, snapping pictures at the Washington Monument and trying to evade the 100-degree heat.
If visitors were concerned about the crime emergency declared here after a recent spate of crimes, some of them unusually grisly, most didn’t show it. “I think if you stay in the well-traveled areas you aren’t going to end up running into any trouble,” said Pat Magelky, 51, from Moorhead, Minn., who was on his way to the World War II Memorial.
But city officials are not taking the situation lightly. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, who spent 29 years with the Chicago Police Department, announced the crime emergency after a 27-year-old British man’s throat was slit in the city’s upscale Georgetown neighborhood in the early hours of the morning on July 9. It was the city’s 13th homicide since July 1.
Since then, the number of homicides has risen to 15 for the month, including a man in a wheelchair who was shot nine times. Two armed robberies on the National Mall near the Washington Monument last week added to demands for quick action.
The declaration of a crime emergency gives the police chief greater flexibility to readjust officers’ schedules and reassign them to high-crime areas. Mayor Anthony Williams also called the D.C. City Council back from summer recess Tuesday to consider emergency anti-crime legislation.
Some tourism industry representatives are concerned that the negative publicity could have an impact on the busy summer season.
“It’s certainly much safer in the District than it was 5 to 10 years ago,” said Chris Knudson, senior vice president of communications and marketing for the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.
Ed Rudzinski, chairman of the board of the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., said that so far no one has canceled reservations or called with concerns. Still, he noted the importance of staying vigilant and commended the police chief for taking action.
“We have a lot of visitors,” Rudzinski said. “Our obligation, when they get here, is to show them a friendly city and a safe city.”
Washington’s crime statistics have steadily improved over the past decade, reaching an all-time low last year. But the past 30 days have represented a 9 percent increase in robberies and 21 percent increase in assaults with a deadly weapon when compared with the same stretch last year.
City officials are particularly concerned that the culprits seem to be disproportionately youthful offenders.
“While most of the district’s youth are enjoying a fun and productive summer, an increasing number are robbing people and using guns,” Williams said Tuesday. “It goes without saying that this is a disturbing and unacceptable trend.”
There has been a 14 percent increase in the number of juveniles arrested this year, and an 82 percent increase in the number of juveniles arrested for robbery. Additionally, there has been a 27 percent rise in juveniles arrested on weapons charges.
A handful of the recent crimes have occurred in high-profile places, and that, according to Knudson, is partially to blame for the heightened concern.
“Had this happened anywhere other than the National Mall or Georgetown, I doubt very much that it would have made national news,” Knudson said.
Five robberies have occurred on the National Mall since May, and none has been solved. According to Sgt. Scott Fear, a spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, which patrols the National Mall, that number of robberies has not taken place on the Mall during a comparable period in the past 10 to 15 years.
Still, Fear pointed out that none of the incidents occurred during the day. “This is not a crime emergency on the National Mall,” Fear said.
Rudzinski also expressed concern about where recent crimes have occurred.
“Georgetown is synonymous with `Let’s go out and party, let’s go out and have dinner,’ ” he said. “Like Fifth Avenue in New York or Michigan Avenue in Chicago, it’s famous.”
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mxgoldberg@tribune.com
