Results tagged “police”

Former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker is back in the news this week, thanks to agreeing to appear in this PSA for the DUICheckpoint campaign, a joint effort from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. You'll recall that Baker retired from his position shortly before pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and serving five days in jail.

A pair of large police and emergency responses to report going on downtown today.

D.C. Police say they are investigating two fatal shootings that happened overnight in Northeast.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Wednesday that they have doubled the reward money, to $50,000, for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two gunmen who shot and killed 17-year-old Kenyetta Nicholson-Stanley on Oct. 8. Nicholson-Stanley was shot while standing in a playground in the 500 block of Edgewood Street NE, and was merely a bystander. The suspects are believed to have been targeting a security guard who worked in the Edgewood Terrace apartments.

The story of Pepin Tuma, the local lawyer who back in July was arrested by a D.C. police officer after singing the words "I hate the police" while walking down U Street, has made its way in front of the D.C. Council, leading to serious talk about revising the District's disorderly conduct laws. The Legal Times blog and Huffington Post both covered Friday's hearing, during which Tuma testified about his experience while flanked by pro bono counsel from his former firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. And it looks like Tuma's message got through to Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary chairman Phil Mendelson. From the BLT: 'During the hearing, Mendelson made it clear he thought it was time for changes in the law, pointing out that parts of it were more than a century old, and that it had been criticized by Gerald Ford’s President’s Commission On Crime in the District of Columbia.' Unsurprisingly, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles have expressed their opposition to changing the law, which currently allows officers latitude in making arrests for what they deem to be disorderly conduct. The officer in this case, however, is being investigated by both the police department's Internal Affairs Bureau and the independent Office of Police Complaints, according to Huffington Post.

D.C. police say that two of their officers fatally shot a 19-year-old man at about 5 a.m. this morning in the 900 block of 21st Street NE. The Post first reported word of the shooting earlier today, but the AP has more details now: Police say the two officers, who still have not been named, responded to a call for an unwanted guest at a home in that block early this morning, and subsequently shot and killed James Broadus Miller, 19. According to police, Miller confronted the officers with a gun before he was shot. No other injuries were reported.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. on Thursday denied the District's petition to re-hear its case challenging the constitutionality of the police checkpoint program used in Trinidad in 2008.

As if the drive-by shooting Tuesday at the Clay Terrace housing projects, which left two teens dead and three others wounded, wasn't tragic enough, the Washington Post is citing police sources today who indicate that one of the slain victims, 15-year-old Davonta Artis, was an innocent bystander. Preliminary word from D.C. police is that the drive-by resulted from a dispute between two rival crews, from 37th Place SE and Clay Terrace, over a set of stolen handguns. Artis, according to the Post, appears to have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

View Barrage of Gunfire in Shaw in a larger map

UPDATE 9:20 p.m. We can now confirm that the second victim has in fact died. The Post has also updated its story.

Two people were shot earlier this afternoon in the 1300 block of First Street SW. The shooting occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m., D.C. Police said. D.C. Fire/EMS said emergency responders transported one man found shot on First Street SW and a second man who was found shot in the alley off N Street SW, near Howison Place SW. Both men are said to have been in critical condition when they were taken to local hospitals.

News broke late last week that Hawk One, the company that was responsible for providing security guards at the District of Columbia's 127 public schools, had gone belly up. The timing couldn't have been worse, as D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee handed out 388 pink slips to teachers and staff on the very day that the Hawk One guards didn't show up to work. The combination may well have exacerbated a skirmish that broke out at McKinley High School on Friday in reaction to the layoffs, during which two people were arrested.

If you're concerned about average D.C. street crime (and who isn't), you really need to be reading Borderstan on a regular basis. The blog has been doing a consistently great job of warning residents about the everyday muggings and burglaries that mostly go unreported by larger media outlets, and this week has been no exception. Note this report of a 9 a.m. mugging bank robbery on K Street: D.C. police were searching for a suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying robbery suspect on Monday who successfully mugged some unsuspecting pedestrian. "And you have to love the irony of mugger in a suit on K Street." Indeed. (Hat tip City Desk). UPDATE: As noted in comments, this particular crime appears to have been a bank robbery and not a mugging. My praise of Borderstan's general vigilance about street crime still stands, though.

Remember when D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told the Washington Times that she believed the District of Columbia could end up with fewer than 100 homicides in 2009?

Two different suspicious package investigations shut down several downtown streets and the Foggy Bottom Metro station today. The first, inside a bank in the 800 block of Pennsylvania Ave., was called in just after 11 a.m. and forced the partial closure of 9th, Pennsylvania and D Street in the area. That package has already been cleared. The second incident is an unclaimed suitcase in the Foggy Bottom Metro station, and police have since shut down the station itself, along with 23rd Street from G to I Streets and I Street from 21-23rd Streets NW. The Metro station remained closed as of about 3 p.m. UPDATE 3:56 p.m.: Foggy Bottom Metro and all related streets have been reopened.

Have you had your bike stolen recently? Has the lack of breeze in your face been causing you to break down in long periods of longing and caused you to endlessly peruse Craigslist for junkers? You're not alone. So not alone, in fact, that the police have recovered enough in-tact sets of wheels from Washington's ubiquitous bike thieves that they might be able to provide you with a cure for your bikeless malady. The Second District Police Station, located at 3320 Idaho Ave., NW, will host a "bike viewing" on Wednesday between 3:30pm until 6:30pm in the community room of the building. For those who have had their bicycle stolen: be sure to bring receipts, serial numbers, and any other identifying information to the station. We'll cross our fingers for you.

At least two more suspects have now been arrested in the Aug. 18 slaying of a pizza restaurant owner in the Edgewood neighborhood, WTOP's Mark Segraves reports. One suspect, Shanika Robinson, had already been arrested in the killing of Pizza Mart co-owner Shahabuddin Rana a few weeks ago, but now her brother, Leon Robinson, has also been taken into custody and charged with first degree murder. Segraves also tells DCist that a third suspect, whose name we still don't know, has been arrested in the time since this initial report. Police allege that Rana was killed after a false marriage arrangement between Shanika Robinson and Rana's brother fell apart. Rana had been paying Robinson $500 a week to be married to his brother so that he could get a green card, according to police, but at some point Rana stopped the payments. Further complicating the sordid case is the death of Terrance Green, a D.C. police officer who committed suicide earlier this month after he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in the case.

D.C. Police announced Thursday that they have made an arrest in the April 6 sexual assault of a female victim inside her home in the 1500 block of Marion Street NW. Police say physical evidence linked a suspect to the attack, and 25-year-old George Leroy Clowers of no fixed address has since been arrested and charged with first degree sexual abuse and burglary one. The crime was the sort that gives city-dwelling women everywhere nightmares: at around 3 a.m., the suspect broke into the victim's house in the Shaw neighborhood, sexually assaulted her and then stole some of her stuff before fleeing.

WTOP has the latest in the kerfuffle between the D.C. Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police: Chief Cathy Lanier confirms that MPD has filed an appeal in an attempt to overturn a September 9th arbiter's ruling that the "All Hands On Deck" program violates the police union's contract with the city. (The FOP claims, among other issues, that overtime pay as a result of AHOD efforts was never paid to deserving officers.) As a result of the appeal, the police department will continue with plans to hold AHOD efforts in November and December. Depending on which agency's statistics one chooses to believe, it's been a pretty good year for Lanier and the police -- a large labor dispute is probably not the note the Chief envisioned ending the calendar year on.

The shop in question is in the 800 block of H Street NE, located in the same strip mall as a McDonald's.

What constitutes a violent crime? That's the question at the root of this report from the Examiner's Scott McCabe, which notes that an FBI report released on Monday shows that violent crime in the District actually increased by 2.3 percent in 2008, despite D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier's triumphant announcement earlier this year that it had dropped by 5 percent. The FBI and the MPD use different measurements, you see, when it comes to counting violent crimes. "Under the D.C. Code, a punch is considered a simple assault; under the FBI's definition, it's considered an aggravated assault, or a violent crime, D.C. police said." So according to the MPD, if someone punches you in the face and steals your wallet, that's not a violent crime? Or a man beating his wife is not a violent crime?

D.C. Police officers shot and killed a man in Southeast D.C. at about 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. Police were responding to what appears to be a strange 911 call to 1767 Trenton Place SE, not far from the Southern Ave. Metro station, when the shooting occurred.

Look, far be it from me to downplay the importance of monitoring young college students to prevent them from overindulging in alcohol -- but sweet fancy Moses, this Post piece about policing the University of Maryland's drinking scene is nearly laughable. Some of the lowlights recorded by reporter Jenna Johnson: "But the most obvious clue that they are freshmen? No red cups in hand, Ecker said. They haven't learned to bring their own cups to keggers." (Oh, those adorable freshmen! When will they ever learn that wearing high school shirts and not carrying your own cup is a dead giveaway for the po-po?) How about the anecdote in which the two underaged women walk directly past the Lieutenant which Johnson interviewed, openly discussing where to procure fake IDs -- to which the officer can only muster an "I am standing right here!" Much less hilarious: the department's Homer Simpson-esque solution to a brick wall where men gather to cat call and assault women: lobbying College Park to install "no loitering" signs and reminding officers to please crack down on "undesirables" who routinely get grabby with ladies. Why not just, you know, assign a police officer to stand at the wall? College Park, it's a hell of a town.

D.C. Police still do not know the identity of the woman who struck by a Metrobus at the corner of Connecticut and Florida Avenues this morning. WTOP has reported that the woman was a jogger who was wearing earbuds at the time she was hit, which would help explain why she was not carrying any identification. The woman, who is currently listed as a Jane Doe, is in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital. She is described as a white female, with brown hair, approximately 25 years of age, and 5'5" inches tall. She was wearing a white T-shirt, faded gray jogging shorts with white trim, white sneakers and white ankle socks. Anyone with information on the identity of this woman is asked to call D.C. police at (202) 727-9099.

A Prince George's County police officer shot and seriously wounded a man in Southeast D.C. today after following the man into the District, the Post is reporting. The victim, who has not been identified, was a suspect in the killing of two people in Anne Arundel County earlier this morning, according to police. The police-involved shooting took place at Minnesota Avenue and Ridge Road SE.

D.C. police made an arrest today in the fatal shooting of 48-year-old Deborah Ann Brown. Brown died Saturday evening in the 2900 block of 14th Street NW, after being struck in what appears to have been gunfire aimed at someone else.

A man was shot at around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night in the 1300 block of 5th Street NW, and police now say the victim has died from his injuries. The man's identity has not yet been released, but according to D.C. police, he was a Maryland resident. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099.

The man who was found dead in Rock Creek Park on Friday has been identified as Larry Frankel, 54. Frankel was State Legislative Director for the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, and previously served as executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

There are early reports coming in that D.C. police have found the body of a man in Rock Creek Park. A jogger reportedly called in finding the body at around 11 a.m., and police say it was lying in a creek near 24th Street and Beach Drive NW. Another Rock Creek jogger who happened by the scene tells DCist that the man appeared to have been discovered face down in the water, and that he was dressed in jogging clothes. No word yet from police on the cause or nature of this death.

The Examiner has an interesting pair of crime stories today, both of which note dramatic decreases in certain types of crime in the District this year. First is a story that reports the number of carjackings is way down in D.C.: there have been about 200 carjackings in the city this year, compared with approximately 600 in all of 2008. Next is a piece of speculation about whether the correlation of having an oddly cool summer season has been one of the contributing factors to this year's decrease in homicides, both in D.C. and in other American cities.