Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• There’s going to be a meet and greet with MPD officers and CAG block captains at Montrose Park this Saturday at 9:30 AM. It’ll be at the gazebo next to the western tennis courts; and there’ll be coffee and pastries!
• $3,200 a month for a two bedroom rowhouse actually seems like a pretty good deal.

We’ve all seen them. Some of us have put them up ourselves. They’re Emergency No Parking signs, and they’re a fact of life in neighborhoods like Georgetown. They ordinarily evoke a bit of frustration, and sometimes a whole lot, but we learn to live with them.

Those that have had to put them up themselves have had two options:

• Submit an application to DDOT, pay $34, and travel all the way down to North Capitol St. to pick up the signs once the application is approved;
• Go to MPD 2D headquarters on Idaho Ave. and pick up the signs for free

Unsurprisingly, most people choose Option Two. But Option Two is available no longer. MPD no longer issues No Parking Signs.

If you need to block off some parking spaces, you have only one choice now: submit and application to DDOT and pay $34. The upside? Maybe fewer people will use them.

Hat tip to GGW’s Lynda Laughlin.

The punchline is that while crime was up in Georgetown this summer versus last year, it was generally in line with past years. Here’s a chart of the total summer crimes in Georgetown (i.e. June 1st to August 31st) from 2006 to 2009:

Because by far the largest single category of reported crimes in Georgetown is shoplifting, it’s helpful to look at the stats without thefts:

This has the effect of increasing the variation from year to year, but the general story is the same: while the stats are up from last year, they’re still lower than 2007 and in the general ballpark as across all the years.

As for crime-specific numbers, the story is a bit more interesting. As many could sense, car break-ins were up this year (although they’re still down from 2007):

In fact, the majority of the increase of non-shop lifting crime in 2009 can be traced to car break-ins. There were 22 more non-theft crimes in 2009 than in 2008, but 20 of those incidents were car break-ins. If we had just kept car break-ins level from last year, the overall numbers would be level as well.

Robberies, on the other hand, are up slightly from last year but are still low compared to 2006 and 2007:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Georgetowner asks: where’d all the mailboxes go?
• Washington Business Journal thinks the corner of Calvert and Wisconsin is in Georgetown
• The Current reports that the reimbursable detail for which the BID is paying $100,000 is for the Summer only. GM mistakenly thought it was for the whole year.

Photo of the Potomac by Flickr user Singlecupofcoffee used under a Creative Commons license.

The reimbursable detail program has changed a lot over the years. It came to Georgetown in 2006 through the leadership of CAG (interestingly, according to the minutes, when it went before the ANC for consideration, Tom Birch [then not a Commissioner] announced his opposition to it on egalitarian grounds. Only Commissioner Eason voted against a resolution supporting CAG’s request.)

According to a Citypaper article from a few years ago, the average overtime rate for the officers is $55.71 hour. At that rate, the BID would be purchasing nearly 1,800 officer-hours of added protection. While it’s not clear from the Current article over what period of time the $100,000 is budgeted for, assuming it’s a year, that works out to about 34 hours a week. The officers will likely be on duty Thursday night through Sunday night for about 8 hours a night. If all those assumptions are right, that means the BID will fund one extra officer. If the BID is participating in ABRA’s matching program, then the city may pick up the tab for a second cop.

The following is a crime alert for residents of PSA 206 involving
several recent burglaries: 

* June 5, 2009, between 9:15 am and 5:10 pm – 1800 block 35th
Street NW – unknown suspect entered through a open/unlocked window and
stole electronic equipment and jewelry
* June 5, 2009, between 8:30 am and 7:00 pm – 2700 block of Q
Street NW – unknown suspect entered through an unlocked kitchen window
then forced open the screen and stole electronic equipment, money and
jewelry
* June 4, 2009, between 8:30 am and 5:40 pm – 2500 block Q Street
NW – unknown suspect entered through an open/unlocked bedroom window and
stole electronic equipment and money

Take this as a lesson: lock your doors and windows. This burglar (or burglars) seem to hit homes during business hours. Make sure you lock up (including your windows) before you leave for the day.

As described here, MPD temporarily resumed the daily crime summaries for the neighborhood and district listservs following complaints about the crime map replacements. The operative word there was “temporarily”. Those who follow the MPD2D listserv may have noticed recently that the crime summaries changed format dramatically. Find out how the new reports stack up to the old ones after the jump:

When people raised a ruckus back in January about the decision to stop the daily crime summaries, MPD heard two basic complaints: that the map didn’t work and that there needs to be a text feed for the listservs. Apparently both those problems were (somewhat) solved. Frankly, GM never had any technical problems with the crime map, he just didn’t think it was very good.

But that’s neither here nor there, what GM and others were particularly peeved about was the loss of a daily (or semi-daily) email listing the crimes by PSA. MPD claimed it took too much time for a sworn officer to draft it. Moreover, MPD said it was concerned about confidential information being released.

MPD compromised and now sends out a daily email, but it’s not nearly as informative as the old reports. Here’s an example of the old ones from February 19th:

PSA 206

Theft occurred in the 3200 block of M Street NW on 2/14/09 between 
8:15 pm and 8:20 pm. A citizen reports that one subject stole a coat 
from the location. The subject is described as a white male, 5’7″ 
and 135 lbs.

Theft occurred in the 3200 block of M Street NW on 2/14/09 at 4:00 
pm. An employee reports that two subjects entered the location and 
place assorted clothing items in a shopping bag and walked out of 
the store without paying. The first subject is described as a black 
male of dark complexion, 6’3″ and 170 lbs. The second subject is 
described as a black male of medium complexion, 5’6″ and 150 lbs.

Theft occurred in the 3200 block of M Street NW on 2/14/09 between 
7:30 pm and 8:45 pm. A citizen reports that while dining at the 
location unknown subject(s) stole her wallet out of her purse while 
it hung on her chair.

Shoplifting occurred in the 3200 block of M Street NW on 2/14/09 
between 6:30 pm and 6:40 pm. An employee reports that a subject tore 
the security sensor off of the several items and placed it inside of 
a bag. The subject passed all registers and was stopped by an 
employee. The case was closed with the arrest of one adult male.

Theft from auto occurred 29th & M Street NW on 2/14/09 between 4:00
pm and 4:30. A citizen reports that a subject smashed the rear 
passenger side window of the vehicle and stole a laptop computer and 
personal items.

Sure, maybe we don’t need all this detail, but it’s certainly interesting and can sometimes give you some good ideas about how to avoid being a crime victim.

Now compare the listings above to what started getting released around the beginning of March:

PSA : 206
CCN : 09030187
RPT DATE : Mar 6 2009 12:00AM
SHIFT : DAY
OFFENSE : Theft
METHOD : 2
BLOCK : 3200 B/O M ST NW
LOCATION : Specialty Store
START DT : 03/06/2009
START TM : 13:00:00
END DT : 03/06/2009
END TM : 13:10:00
———— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— -
PSA : 206
CCN : 09030212
RPT DATE : Mar 6 2009 12:00AM
SHIFT : EVN
OFFENSE : Theft
METHOD : 2
BLOCK : 1200 B/O WISCONSIN AVE NW
LOCATION : Specialty Store
START DT : 03/06/2009
START TM : 15:35:00
END DT : 03/06/2009
END TM : 
———— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— -
PSA : 206
CCN : 09030250
RPT DATE : Mar 6 2009 12:00AM
SHIFT : DAY
OFFENSE : Theft F/Auto
METHOD : 1
BLOCK : 3200 B/O M ST NW
LOCATION : Parking Lot/Parking Garage
START DT : 03/06/2009
START TM : 12:30:00
END DT : 03/06/2009
END TM : 15:20:00

Doesn’t paint nearly as clear a picture does it? (By the way, GM believes the category “Method” refers to what degree the crime was [i.e. first or second degree]). What this appears to be is the map data feed, and it’s not nearly as descriptive as the old reports.

And hell, they’re not even gathered by PSA. You have to browse through the whole list to find all the crimes for your particular neighborhood.

Supposedly MPD had good reasons to stop the daily crime summaries, but what they’re replacing it with is far inferior. MPD2D promises more descriptive crime alerts when a particularly troubling crime has occurred, but they already did that. Every which way you look at it, this decision leaves the citizens with less information than they had before and that’s a shame.

Members of the MPD2d listserv may have noticed that they haven’t received a daily summary of crimes for the last two weeks. For those not receiving this listserv, the daily update of crimes provides a listing and description of each crime that occurred in the Second District separated into each PSA (Georgetown’s is 206). For instance, on December 14th, PSA 206 reported the following crimes:

Assault occurred in the 1300 b/o Wisconsin Ave. NW on 12/13/2008
3am. 2 citizens reported they were approached from the rear by 4
suspects, knocked to the ground and beaten and kicked. One suspect
described as a white male, no further description.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/13/2008 2- 250pm.
Citizen reports a wallet, laptop, cash and papers were stolen when
left unattended in a store.

Theft occurred in the 1800 b/o Wisconsin Ave. NW on 12/13/2008 5pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black male, 42yoa, 5’11, 240 lbs.
stole property from the display shelf. CASE ClOSED with the arrest
of the suspect.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/12/2008 315- 715pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black male, 6′, dark complexion stole
watches from the store and fled.

Theft occurred in the 3100 b/o M St. NW on 12/13/2008 235- 305pm.
Citizen reports the suspect, a black female, 5’9, 125lbs., stole
clothing from the store by removing security sensors.

These are valuable pieces of information that keep citizens informed. They are also apparently no more. Find out more after the jump:

The crime summary listed above was the last summary sent out. After two weeks of radio silence, Assistant Chief of Police Diane Groomes issued a press release stating that the crime summaries would no longer be produced. Instead, she states that:

We ask that all utilize the crimemap application to retain information on crimes that occur in their community. This application is a very important tool that provides summary information on all Part one offenses except that of sexual assaults and homicides and also provides a mapping function for a citizen to use.

The crimemap she’s talking about is the same one GM reviewed last week. If you don’t remember, here’s the short version: it’s terrible. It’s based on inferior mapping software, it’s difficult to use, and it doesn’t allow you to actually find out any information on each crime. For crime maps, there are better options out there. But a crime map is not a satisfactory replacement for a daily list. MPD has offered the crime map for years, why does it all of the sudden think that it’s a better option than daily blotters?

Groomes’ statement may hold the answer to that:

In the past citizens did receive information via the listserv that was posted by a sworn member of the Department but we have found that the information was not uniform in nature and that some of the information revealed facts that were not for public information and jeopardized our investigatory process.  We also want to relieve a sworn member from performing such administrative tasks so that they can work out in the field.

GM thinks this is a bad idea. The daily crime summaries are vital to keeping our community informed of the crime that happens every day. Maps just simply are no replacement to text-based information feed.

Matt Klein, Acting Commander of 2D wrote in response to complaints of the move:

I want to assure that 2D community that I will continue to post information on serious incidents, or other major unusual occurrences such as a robbery spree like the one we had on December 22nd. Chief Groomes has directed all district commanders to continue to post these types of events as soon as possible so that the community is aware of serious events.

While you could make an argument that receiving a report of every single shoplifter is not crucial and that hearing only about the serious incidences is all that matters, but we already do get separate emails about these types of crimes. Why can’t we continue to get those email alerts as well as the daily summaries?

If this is indeed about not releasing non-public information, then it would seem that the answer would be to make sure you don’t release non-public information. Also, as someone suggested on the listserv, drafting the daily summary is a perfect job for the MPD auxiliary unit. If it is a waste of sworn officers time to draft these reports, maybe some other personnel would be more appropriate. In the end, if this is a cost cutting or personnel issue that simply can’t be avoided, then fine; but trying to sell the crime map as an improvement over the daily summaries is insulting.