Last year, back when pre-parenthood GM had significantly more free time, he wrote a long piece on the relationship between street crime in Georgetown and Halloween.
The upshot of the piece was that crime in Georgetown appears to double on Halloween vs. an average day, regardless of whether Halloween is a weekend or not. Here are the averages from 2006-2010:
| Theft | ADW | Robbery | Burglary | Theft F/ Auto | Sex Abuse | Total | |
| Normal Day Average | 1.57 | 0.07 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.48 | 0.01 | 2.65 |
| Halloween Average | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.80 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.00 | 4.2 |
Crime has historically jumped a bunch on Halloween. There are about twice as many total crimes, six times as many robberies and more than three times as many burglaries.
Out of curiosity, GM compared last year’s crime totals to the Halloween averages.
| Theft | ADW | Robbery | Burglary | Theft F/ Auto | Sex Abuse | Total | |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Crime was up last Halloween. But there were no burglaries, car break-ins, sexual assaults or assaults with a deadly weapon. At least according to the crime stats. But here’s the thing. Last year even worse in Georgetown than these numbers reveal. A fight between some visitors resulted in a deadly shooting right at M and 28th. For conspiracy minded people thinking the crime stats are cooked, the shooting did eventually show up in the crime data, but not until November 7th, when the victim died.
GM was not among the M St. revelers last year. But he did hear from some long time Halloween goers that the scene was alarming even before the shooting. He certainly hopes MPD has plans and resources to address any repeat situation before it gets out of hand again.
DC residents come from across the city to enjoy Halloween in Georgetown because its fun and safe. All necessary efforts must be made to keep that true.
