The violent crime rate in Washington, DC, has dropped in 30 years, according to data from the US Attorney's Office.
Violent crime in the region is down 35% year over year, said Mathew M. Graves, US attorney for the District of Columbia, on Friday. There have been 3,388 incidents so far in 2024, compared to 5,215 incidents in 2023.
Crimes that have dropped significantly this year include murder by 30%, sexual assault by 22%, assault with a deadly weapon by 27%, robbery by 8% and burglary by 8%.
“There's no question in my opinion, the most impactful thing we're doing when it comes to violent crime is targeting the drivers of gun violence,” Graves said, according to Fox 5 DC. “The most important thing is to find out in our community…who is really driving the violence and hold them accountable for other crimes, so you can get them off the street before they commit the next crime.”
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The violent crime rate in Washington, DC, has dropped in 30 years, according to data from the US Attorney's Office. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Graves said the data shows that the drivers of violent crime include “a few hundred people across the city.”
“Many of them, who are connected … what we in the district call 'workers;' People's groups usually based in the area or in the houses where they grew up commit a lot of different crimes,” he said.
“Their activities, in some way, are involved in violence. In some cases, the activities they do, fueling open drug markets, are magnets for violence,” he added. “Therefore, going after those people who actually account for the external component of violent crime is a very effective strategy to reduce the numbers.”
Graves said prosecution is not the only way to reduce crime.
Violent crime in the region is down 35% year over year. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“These are often deep issues with drivers focused on poverty, lack of resources, health issues, and education,” he said. “We can have an impact on these numbers. We can take violence off the streets. We can try to stop other people from being the drivers of gun violence. But if there are things that haven't been addressed, mental health issues, lack of economic opportunity, there will be more drivers.”
Graves says the decrease in violent crime is due to his office working with the Metropolitan Police Department to target the small number of people who drive violent crime in the county.
“There are very few people who perpetrate violence in our society,” he told WTOP. “And what we've been doing for the last two years is looking at those people – those people – who are driving the violence.”
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There were 3,388 incidents of violent crime so far in 2024, compared to 5,215 incidents in 2023. (WTTG)
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Local leaders also cite the Secure DC Omnibus Act and other factors, such as increased officer visibility, technology improvements and making sure students are learning.
The cemetery still says there is still a lot of work to be done to deal with the number of illegal guns in the region.
“We have more illegal guns in our community now than we did 15 years ago,” he said. “You have to think about it more like a virus. The more viruses there are in a community, the more sick people will be.”
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