Recently in Crime Category

Anyway, I always fear jinxing myself when I write that the drug problem is getting better. It is getting better. This photo was taken back in 2005 writing about a fellow a observed standing in 20F weather for no apparent good reason.

I was writing about our 'friendly neighborhood drug dealers' since 2005, though they were there long time before that. Residents on my street who lived here decades before I showed up would tell me about how the dealers were so bad they had even set up a table to do business. By the time I moved in, the only furniture they had were chairs. They would sit at the corner of 4th and R on found chairs. They'd be there when I came home from work in the evenings, and they'd be coming around when I left for work in the mornings.

The 'friendly' is a mix of truth and something else, sarcasm? A play on your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. With the exception of the teens trying to be and look hard the drug dealers were friendly. As I mentioned in one post, they'd say hello, I'd say hello back, keeping the friendly vibe even though I was calling the cops on them on occasion.

When did it turn? Well they aren't really gone, just less visible. But they became less visible, I guess around 2008, when I mentioned that a set of dealers had moved on. Well at least in my area of the TC. I do see on occasion someone who I believe "managed" the low level dealers. There were a lot of things that heppened to make our street less suitable for dealing. Demographics helped, meaning more dog walkers and joggers, fewer people who allowed/tolerated dealers hanging in front of their house, more people calling the cops, fewer people providing labor and shelter for the drug trade, and more homeowners. Better policing may have helped, with the shotspotter and better communication with email, but there is still room for improvement. Better city services also helped with the drug problem, fixing lights, ticketing cars, and the like as crime likes the shadows and dealers would stash drugs in unmoving (possibly stolen) cars.

For other parts of the city where the dealers haven't moved on, be they friendly or not, I hope that you can just keep chipping away at the problem. Keep calling the police, demand city services, demand enforcement, and make your area attractive to the types of people who will help make your neighborhood a nicer place. 

I don't like drug dealers. More specifically, I don't like what drug dealers do, which is selling poison to people. Shaw, has had, and is still struggling with drug dealers. They are not as bad in the areas that I frequent anymore. Winter might have something to do with that.

Yesterday evening, the Help and I checked out Mr. Paul Rand's ongoing speechifing about drones possibly being used to kill Americans in America without due process. How realistic is it? I don't know, but I do know that rules to combat terrorists have been used in America's War on Drugs. Will local law enforcement be able to use drones against the friendly neighborhood drug dealer? Technology has been used, GPS, shotspotter, and wire tapping. And here still the rule of law applies, despite whatever proof the government has, the suspected drug dealer still gets his/her day in court. Eventhough drug dealers are domestic terrorists, making residents live in fear, they still should get due process.

Now if we could just get the dealers from the corner or alley into the courtroom. Oh, and not have the judge just let them go, or slap them on the wrist with really short jail time, that would be good too.

Lately, I have taken an interest in what I'll call the architecture of security. That would be buildings that reflect a time when the environment was unsecure or high crime. These would include buildings that have tiny little windows and lots of concrete, such as the old Shaw library before it was replaced with the open and airy library. I'd also include bars on windows, like these from a house in Georgetown. When I was visiting New York, I took a few pictures of window bars there. Some are quite pretty.

"Don't you feel like you're in a cage?" is a question I hear when talking with someone where window bars are a rarity. "No," is my answer. When I am looking out the window, I look past the bars. Besides, I'm not caged in, but the world is caged out. The barred security door is a barrier between me and the fake Pepco workers and other random people who come to my door, who might wish harm. In an apartment the equivilant would be that little chain on the door.

Bars on windows and doors is a part of making our home secure, but I have noticed other efforts as others secure their homes. Alarms are great, but only work when they are on, as I can remember a few crimes that have occured at houses with alarms, but the alarm wasn't on or the theif managed not to trip the non-existant motion detector.

Another step some take is not to have anything worthwhile visible or make their insides hard to observe. Though some don't like being in 'a cage' they don't seem to mind being in a fishbowl. I do enjoy glancing into people's living rooms when walking down the street or being driven by the Help. I like seeing how differently people decorate their homes, but I'm sure people with less benign motives look in the same window and wonder what is worth stealing (besides decorating ideas). Some windows scream, "HEY EVERYBODY I GOT A 60" TV!!!! On the first floor." Many neighbors keep their lives very private with drapes, shades and blinds, so their movements and stuff cannot be observed by the man on the street. Also with the heavy drapes, you never notice the bars.

I must credit Ghosts of DC for first putting this up yesterday. It is a 1935 map of Juvenile Delinquents. Of course I first pin pointed my attention to the Truxton Area, then the rest of Shaw, where the hotbed of bad kids live. Shaw and SW DC.

Anyway, the Ghosts of DC site has a lot of pretty pictures , but doesn't give you too much to go an explore on-line sources for yourself. So I used my super-librarian powers (I didn't even need to touch rings with the Help who also holds a MLS to activate) to find the jumbo sized map at the Harvard Map Collection Digital Map's site.

As for those great maps of DC with outlines of buildings, some of them are Sanborn maps on the Library of Congress' Maps and Geography website.

I have my own scan of a 1934 map of adult offenders by census tract.

Okay both the Washington City Paper but notably the neighborhood blogger Titan of Trinidad have some good stories about Councilman Vincent Orange and the whole incident of Sam Wang's rat problem.

ToT- Health Department Allowed Sam Wang to Operate Without Proper Licensing

        Vinny Orange's Money Machine

        City Councilor Pressures Health Dept to Keep Rodent-infested Grocery Store Open

       and a very helpful -  How to Report Possible DC Government Ethics Violations  

       and if you think the Board of Ethics should investigate Vincent Orange, ToT has a link for you near the top right corner of his page.

WCP- Rat Infested Grocery Gets a Hand From Mystery Councilmember, Then From Vincent Orange  

        Here's the Grocery Store Vincent Orange Helped Keep Open

I have one note on the photographs, they look like they are in the parts of the business where customers, such as myself, do not go. There is one refrigerated room where you fend for yourself against the grandmas and others getting citrus that is less than Vincent Orange. Also I have not seen a rat not a Councilmember in there, but it doesn't mean they aren't there.

Extra/Update-

WUSA Channel 9(HT DCist):

Two instances this weekend. One being the hate crime near 3rd and Q, and the other being a robbery at the corner store at 3rd and P.

I don't know what to say about the hate crime, except that thankfully it did not get worse. I'm thinking of the transgendered victims who were stabbed 5 years ago, not too far from 3rd and Q. If the perps of this recent crime were under 18, I'm not too hopeful that justice will be found.

The corner market at 3rd and P was robbed Sunday around 5pm by two men in black and grey clothing leaving in a black cadilac. The store has been the target of crime recently. Apparently this is the 2nd robbery in 2 weeks. Before that, there was the broken window. Those of us nearby this market can support the store by stopping in purchasing something and giving words of support. We should not let criminals define us as a neighborhood and we should fight evil with good.

This is a good reminder not to leave anything visible in your car on the off chance that crackheads and other criminals might think there is something of value. Also remind your guests (friends, lovers, relations) not to leave anything visible in the car. Our guests don't seem to want to believe that their car might get broken into when we stress the point. Of course, even then theives may want to just rip off components, like radios, sound systems, tires, or air bags. For those of you with the tire locky things, theives seem to know that you keep the key for that in your glove compartment.

Unless you see the crime of window busting in progress, it is not a police matter. If the vehicle has been sitting with a busted window for 5 days on the street or 45 days on private property it is a matter for DPW. Only the owner of the vehicle can file a report. If you just happen to notice freshly broken glass and a busted car window, keep walking, there is nothing for you to do.

Truxton Circle brochures- Some you all (y'all) got my nice colorful Truxton Circle brochures in your doors a few weeks ago, and a lot of y'all did not. If you want a brochure on how to use the TruxtonCircle.org website, I'll be dropping some off at the Decemeber BACA meeting, which is tonight (7PM, Mt. Sinai Church, 3rd & Q, basement, ring the bell to get in). I should have had these ready for last month's meeting, so I could do a presentation but stuff happened. Tonight's meeting is about getting together, having a good time, and giving away prizes. If that doesn't work for you and you are really interested in neighborhood history all over the city join me at the DC Humanities Council's 6th Annual Community Heritage Project Showcase on December 6th at the All Soul's Unitarian Church (click here to RSVP). I'll have brochures and the world's slowest laptop showing off the work done for the Truxton Circle website.

Live here, drink near here- Truxton Circle was featured in Curbed's Bar Crawl Living series.

Christmas Stealings- Apparently we aren't reporting stolen packages enough. The Bloomingdale blog presents a problem with potential presents being sent to your door.. the mail carrier leaving them in plain sight. If possible tell friends and family, if they must mail packages, mail them to an alternative address (work, c/o friends, a business you have a close relationship with, etc), if you don't have a spot where they could be 'hidden' from plain sight, or can't fit in your mailbox. But then again, it doesn't help if the carrier or delivery guy puts it where everyone can see it.

Costco advice- If you are not sure if a Costco membership is worth it for you, find a friend/relative in the area who does have a membership and ask to tag along. Bring cash. Before becoming a member, I tagged along with my Aunt and friends (before the 3rd kid arrived and they couldn't fit me in the minivan) who were members. In the old days I stocked up on meat, fish, trash bags, frozen shrimp, soups, and crab meat. I had a freezer and I used it. I got my TV via a relative's membership, back when 20 something inch flat screen HD TVs were pricey, now it's less than $200. I need to ask, is there another way to get to the DC Costco without getting on New York Avenue NE?

A neighbor alerted me to the PoP post about some good citizens finding blood, a mask, and a gun along New Jersey Avenue near R St. New Jersey is one of the boundary lines between MPD's Third District and the Fifth District. There is nothing so far on either one of the police districts' yahoo email list groups. Which side of the street determines who is handling this and who has the most information.

There was some confusion earlier this year when there was a sexual assault on the 400 blk of Q Street NW. That was in the Third police district (3D), but folks in 5D, which also has a 400 blk of Q, were very concerned about this crime. When queried by 5D citizens, 5D said they'd have to contact 3D for more information.

Back to the blood and gun found on New Jersey Ave this Sunday, we might never know. Not everyone reports things to the police or any authorities. I know of situations that have occured in my general area where someone and a few someones were hurt in the commission of a crime (there was that car accident with a stolen car several years back) where the parties, ran off, not waiting for or calling EMS. I just pray someone is not left bleeding somewhere on someone's stoop or vestibule.

ANC Nigro has more information, it appears someone shot their hand.

On our street we've had some mail go missing and the mail thieves have been busy.

They've stolen one neighbor's bank card and I gather kept an eye out for the PIN mailing and stole that too. They also stole another neighbor's absentee ballot, and according to the neighbor, voted in a southwestern state's election. And if I bothered to keep staring at one neighbor's stoop I may have witnessed thieves running off her parcel.

That last one I'm still beating myself up for that. I noticed what looked like a white 'if it fits it ships' packages on a neighbor's stoop. I kept looking out my window at it, thinking, it's right there, anyone could steal it. So I texted my neighbor, not sure if she was home or out (it was also cold, which was another reason I didn't venture out) to tell her she had a box at her door. Thirty minutes later it was gone. I assumed she got the message and grabbed her box. Nope.

It isn't even near the Christmas season yet.

If you are the victim of mail fraud the US Postal Service has a form for that. The USPS seems to think you'll file a police report too.

Otherwise discourage friends and family from sending boxes. Have parcels mailed to friends who have doormen or real porches or live out in some subdivision where mail never gets stolen. For expensive stuff, I mail it to the Help's work. The Bureau of Fight Club destroys all personal incoming mail or holds it indefinately, so I can never have anything sent to my work.