Crime has declined in 2011 in several of Washington, D.C.’s most troubled neighborhoods, but crime increased slightly throughout the city as of Aug. 1, reports the city’s Post. Homicides were down 11 percent and robberies down 7 percent through Aug. 1, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said at a joint press conference.
Lanier said violent crime fell by an average of 37 percent in five neighborhoods with persistent crime problems. However, total crime in the District, including both violent and property crime, was up by 3 percent through August 1. Gray attributed the decreases to a summer effort to address such issues as abandoned cars, overgrown grass and youth crime. Beginning in May, Gray said, he directed city agencies to work together so that quality-of-life problems — including dirty playgrounds, dark alleys, and overgrown grass and weeds — were addressed “within hours.”