Julius Washington Reports

By Julius Washington

Following a pair of shooting incidents near the intersection of 15th and Independence Avenue SE, leaders in the Hill East neighborhood called a community meeting to discuss solutions to recent incidents in the area.

The meeting, called by ANC 6B10 Commissioner Kathryn Denise Rucker Krepp and former ANC Commissioner and current candidate Chander Jayaraman, was well attended, with organizers bringing out extra chairs to accommodate the crowd of well over fifty.

Metropolitan Police Captain Tatiana Savoy, who covers Sector Two of the MPD’s First District, and the First District Crime Suppression Team’s Manager were in attendance, as well as Dexter Humphrey, the Director of Constituent Services for Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray. 

Notably missing from the meeting was a representative from the office of Councilmember Charles Allen, whose policies have become a favorite target of tough-on-crime politicians and residents.

Ms. Krepp and Mr. Jayaraman kicked off the conversation and Capt. Savoy followed up with details about the last month’s worth of police incidents.  

While some turned out to be false alarms, three separate shootings within the last week shook members of the community. 

“I’ve never had that many shots in this neighborhood in 20 years. I’ve lived here since 2003, nearly 20 years…I was within 30 feet of where it happened,“ Mr. Jayaraman said. 

Mirroring the national discussion about crime taking place in neighborhoods around the country, there were differences in opinion regarding what the best course of action would be.

“We cannot police our way out of this crime, out of this violence. Period point blank. MPD can’t be the only ones at the table,” Mr. Humphrey said. “They’re doing their job, they’re doing a darn good job.”

A meeting attendee, who identified herself only as “Judy,” received some applause from attendees after proposing a more holistic approach to fighting crime that also included fully funding provisions of the NEAR Act, legislation passed by the DC Council in 2016.

However, she was shut down by Commissioner Krepp, and following the response, several attendees at the meeting walked out in protest and didn’t return.

Marquita Peoples, a nearby resident, praised the work of police officers but felt that it was important for members of the neighborhood to interact with each other and build stronger relationships.

“We are a community. We don’t even speak to our fellow neighbors in our community,” Ms. Peoples said. “If we want to save our community, we have to be advocates for our community. The police can only do so much.”

Mr. Humphrey also mentioned that Councilmember Gray is planning a crime summit that will address some of these issues and include members of several crime-related DC government agencies.

But at times, residents appeared to be more concerned about the perception of crime rather than the reality of widespread violence in the neighborhood. Three of the six calls reported by Capt. Savoy for shots fired were found to be false alarms, and many residents’ complaints were about loitering, an illegal car wash set-up, and public consumption of marijuana or alcohol, rather than recurring violent crime. 

The Crime Suppression Team manager nodded to these concerns. 

“Your perception is your reality,” he said.

Many issues of residents were addressed without a resolution, including concerns about arrests going unprosecuted by the US Attorney’s office and requests for a police camera in the area that have gone back years.

Capt. Savoy said officers within the entire First District had recovered 100 guns this year, as of last week, within an area that includes much of the Southwest and Southeast communities located north of the Anacostia River. But when pressed for figures about how many of these individuals were subsequently prosecuted, she was unable to present the figures.

Regarding the cameras, Captain Savoy said she would look into the matter, but could not promise results at present. 

Mr. Jayaraman was undeterred. 

“I think I’m still gonna push for a permanent camera on that corner [15th St. and Massachusetts Ave SE], not a mobile camera, but a permanent one on a pole,” he said.

In response to the concerns and following the shooting, police officials said they would station a unit outside of the 7-Eleven that sits on 15th Street between Independence and Massachusetts Avenues. 

“Until further notice, we will have a unit in this area,” Capt. Savoy said.

As of four o’clock Friday evening, however, there was no police presence on the corner.

This story was written to fulfill a writing requirement for Multimedia Storytelling.