Police Information

Crestwood is part of the DC Police Fourth District and falls under PSA 404.

The Fouth District Commander is Hilton Burton. Captain Anthony Poteat, Lt. Eric Hayes, and Lieutenant Derrick McNeely are assigned to PSA 404.

The monthly police community meeting is held on the fourth Thursday of the month. Meetings are held at the ROC Regional Operations Command at 801 Shepherd Street, N.W., beginning at 7:00 p.m. Residents are encouraged to attend these sessions because it is a good way to share your concerns and get information as to what has been happening in our neighborhood.

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Crime

Here is the most recent information on crime in our neighborhood.

CRIMES REPORTED IN PATROL SERVICE AREA 404
From January 1 through January 31, 2008

Offense	Total PSA404	Near Crestwood	In Crestwood	In Crestwood Mon - Thu	In Crestwood Fri - Sun
Assault	8	1
Burglary	11		1	1
Homicide	0
Robbery	9	2
Stolen Auto	12	3	3	2	1
Theft	13	2
Theft from Auto	8		1		1
Other	2
Total	63*	8	5	3	2

* Data include 9 crimes not previously reported; one was in Crestwood.

Crestwood Crimes By Block:

Stolen Autos (3):

1600 Shepherd St (Wed, 1/2, 1:00am)
4200 16th Street (Sun, 12/30, 8:00pm)*
4400 16th Street (Wed, 1/16, 5:30am)

Burglary (1):

4300 17th Street (Wed, 1/30, 7:59am)

Theft from Auto (1):

4100 17th Street (Sun, 1/6, 6:30pm)

Crestwood & Area Trends:

-- In Crestwood (16th St. & west), 5 crimes were reported in January, the same as in December.

-- In January, 3 Crestwood crimes were stolen autos, up from none in December.

-- Near Crestwood (PSA 404 east through 14th St.), 8 crimes were reported in January, down from 10 in December. Six were along 14th Street.

-- In PSA 404, 63 crimes were reported in January, down from 72 in December. Nine robberies were reported, down from 17 in December.

CRIMES REPORTED IN CRESTWOOD AND CRESTWOOD’S 16^TH STREET CORRIDOR
From January 1 through April 31, 2007

Crime	Crestwood	Subtotal	16th St. blocks	Adjacent blocks
Assault	6	4	4	0
Burglary	40	12	5	7
Robbery	7	4	2	2
Stolen Auto	18	8	4	4
Theft	29	10	6	4
Theft from Auto	24	13	9	4
Total	125	51	30	21

CRIMES REPORTED IN CRESTWOOD AND CRESTWOOD’S 16^TH STREET CORRIDOR
TIME AND DAY DETAIL
From January 1 through April 31, 2007

	16th St. blocks		Adjacent blocks
Time	Mon-Fri	Sat-Sun	Mon-Fri	Sat-Sun	Subtotal
Day (6am-6pm)	14	5	11	4	34
Night(6pm-6am)	10	1	5	1	17
Subtotal	24	6	16	5	51

Source: Data are from monthly DCMPD crime report files for Police Service Area 404. * Definitions. “Crestwood” is all residential blocks facing 16th Street N.W. between Shepherd Street and Colorado Avenue, and continuing west and south to Rock Creek Park. Crestwood’s “16th Street Corridor” is all Crestwood blocks facing to 16th Street N.W. and continuing west for one block (including Blagden and Colorado Avenues). “16th Street Blocks” are those facing the west side of 16th Street N.W. (e.g., the 4000 block of 16th Street N.W.). “Adjacent blocks” are those on lettered streets continuing one block west of 16th Street (e.g. the 1600 block of Shepherd Street N.W.)

CRESTWOOD CRIME IN 2007

Offense	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Tot
Assault										2			2
Burglary	1		1	4	2	1		1		1	2	1	14
Homocide													0
Robbery		1	1		2	1			3				8
Stolen Auto	3	1	2			2	2	2	2	1	3	1	19
Theft				2	1		2	1	5	1		1	13
Theft/auto	4		2	1	2	1	2			8	42	3	25
Other												1	1
Total	8	2	6	7	7	5	6	4	10	13	7	7	82

In sum, these data suggest that:
-- CY 2007 was our lowest recent crime year (i.e., 82 crimes, about 7 per month).
-- Crimes by year and month are variable (i.e., no clear “trends” are evident).
-- Thefts from autos is the only category that increased each year (as a percent of total crimes).
-- Our other “high” crime categories continue to be stolen autos, burglaries and thefts.
-- We should be remain alert for current crime increases (e.g., thefts from autos, 10/07; burglaries 3 & 4/06, and stolen autos 1/05).

CRESTWOOD CRIME IN 2006

Offense	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Tot
Assault	1			1			2				1	1	6
Burglary	4	1	10	7	1	2	2	2	2	1	2		34
Homocide													0
Robbery	1			1	1				1	1			5
Stolen Auto	1	2	2				1	2	1		2	2	13
Theft	3	3		3	2		2	1	2	3	2	1	22
Theft/auto				3	4	1	2	2	2	2	4		25
Other
Total	15	6	12	15	8	3	9	7	8	7	11	4	105

Crimes reported to police in Crestwood during 2006 showed both new and familiar patterns. Highlights, with previous-year comparisons, include:

• Total crimes increased. A total of 105 crimes were reported in Crestwood for 2006. This was more than for 2005 (a total of 91) but less than for 2004 (118).
  

• Burglaries doubled. For 2006, 34 burglaries were reported in Crestwood (32 percent of all crimes). This compares to 15 percent of the total for 2005 and 14 percent for 2004.
  

-- Half the burglaries were in March and April. Without this “surge,” total crimes in Crestwood would have been less than during prior years.

• Other threats changed. For 2006, 22 thefts were reported in Crestwood (21 percent of total crimes) and 13 autos were stolen (12 percent).
  

-- Thefts were twice their 2005-4 levels (up from 11 percent of all crimes) but stolen autos were down by two-thirds (from 43 and 40 percent, respectively).

• January remained crime-prone. For 2006, January and April had the most crimes (with 15 each); for 2005, January had the most (with 17); and for 2004, January had the second most (with 14, March had 15).

CRESTWOOD CRIME IN 2005

Offense	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Tot
Assault
Burglary	1	2					2	4	1		2	2	14
Homocide
Robbery	3	1		1		1						1	7
Stolen Auto	11	3	4	4	1		5	1	4		3	3	39
Theft	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1				10
Theft/auto	1	1	2	2		4	3	1	2	2	1	2	21
Other
Total	17	8	8	8	2	6	11	7	8	2	6	8	91

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All urban areas have some degree of crimes. Washington, D.C. is no different. Overall, Crestwood is one of the safest neighborhoods in DC. That is why we are raising awareness now, because we want to nip this rise in crime, now. Many of the burglaries are occuring through forced entry and through rear doors or windows. But, some are crimes of opportunity (snatch and grabs) through unlocked doors or unsecured cars. Here are steps we can do to help ourselves now.

• Lock your doors, including a deadbolt.
• Put security bars up in the rear and side.
• Arm your alarm systems.
• Don't leave your car running to warm up
• Don't have your purses or cash near the front door or in plain view.
• Don't leave valuables in your car and be wary when you exit.
• Don't leave your original car registration in your car.
• Have a Kill-Switch on your car, a steering wheel lock and lo-jack.
• Drive a stick shift (apparently the thieves prefer automatics & Toyotas).
• Park in your garage, if you can.
• Make sure you have good lighting around your home.
• Plant holly and other bushes with thorns near ground level burglars, but don't create hiding places in your yard. In one burglary, branches were pulled from a tree so that the thief could hide behind them and sneak by the residents, while they were distracted during yard work.
• Be aware of your surroundings. Many of the crimes are occuring when people are distracted or there is the noise from lawn mowers, construction or they are carrying packages or wearing head phones.
• Carry your cell phone. You may also want to consider carrying cameras to capture what you may be witnessing or having cameras on your property inside and out.
• Don't park your car near any car with a running motor and two or more people sitting in it. Drive around the block and park elsewhere.
• Don't go walking or jogging in pairs. Be aware that muggings have happened while people are walking their dogs.
• Be leary of any car that you see waiting near a corner. The purse snatchings have occurred when a purse is snatched and the person disappears around the corner to a waiting car.
• Be wary of people telling you that they are looking for work, collecting for charity or need to get in to use the phone or money for their sick child. It's terrible that we have to be so suspicious, but these crimes are continuing because the people are able to blend in. In one case, the description fit a person who is known to go door-to-door asking for work..
• Be leary of people pushing a trash barrel down the street, or just pushing a lawn mower. Know who lives on your block and their children. Teach your children street-smarts.
• Have dogs.
• Be extra cautious when having parties or when there are distractions.
• Use companies that are known to you, with a permanent address and have bonded licensed workers.
• Keep track of your keys. Change your locks and passwords periodically.
• Check your credit card statements to make sure there are no extra charges.
• Let us know if you see any gang graffiti in the woods or on the streets.
• Get to know your neighbors and we should let each other know if we are expecting a moving truck to pull up.
• Label your computers and carve your initials on your items.
• Keep a list of your credit cards and an inventory of your belongings.
• Don't allow your personal information to be viewed by strangers (like inserting your pin number while holding your credit card people may be copying your entries if they are behind you in line).
• Trust your instincts. Report suspicious behavior. If the crime is in progress, call 911. If it is not an emergency, but you suspect something is wrong, call 311. The officers always give their badge numbers when they answer. If you don't get the response that is appropriate, you can call back and talk with a supervisor. You can also let Council Member Fenty know or your ANC commissioner.
• Be part of the neighborhood network and plan to attend at least one of the PSA (police community) meetings for our area.
• Check the woods, nearby trash barrels in the vicinity if you were robbed. The stolen items are sometimes stashed there or at the mail box. One resident recently received stolen items back from the post office.
• Look out for your neighbors. A number of the attempted burglaries and auto thefts were interrupted when the thieves were confronted, but be careful. No property is worth a life.
• Track the inforrmation provided to the community by the U.S. attorney's office on people under arrest.
• Be leary of someone asking you for the time and they are wearing a watch. In other words, be safe, not sorry.
• Finally, the Squeaky wheel gets the grease. We need to be reporting the activity. Our community organizations are also working with our neighboring communities and the Council Member to come up with a plan to drive the crime out of our Ward. Similarly, we will be working to address the issues like drug dependency, homelessness, poverty and gang activity that contribute to the crimes in DC.

There is no fence big enough and no army that could do as much as a well connected community that is working together for all of us.