(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the extension of the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) 2019 Safer Stronger DC Fall Crime Prevention Initiative (FCPI) through January 1, 2020. The initiative is a coordinated effort to reduce violent crime in specific areas in the District through strategic prevention and coordinated enforcement patterned after the highly successful Summer Crime Prevention Initiative.
“Our crime prevention initiatives are about engaging the community and strategically investing resources in the neighborhoods that need them most,” said Mayor Bowser. “The Fall Crime Prevention Initiative has proven successful in driving down crime in the targeted areas and extending the program will help us build on that progress as we head into the new year.”
While the initiative will continue with its current strategies through January 1, the District is already experiencing notable decreases in overall crime in four of the six FCPI areas. Between October 14 and December 10, violent crime in FCPI areas decreased three percent, property crime decreased 22%, and total crime decreased 19% when compared to the same period in 2018. Additionally, a total of 48 illegal firearms have been recovered within the FCPI areas.
“The number one goal of the Fall Crime Prevention Initiative is simply to reduce the violent crimes in these areas of the city that are hit the hardest,” said Chief of Police Peter Newsham. “I am confident that the success of this initiative will continue through the new year.”
The 2019 FCPI areas include: Southwest, Columbia Heights, U Street Corridor, Shaw, Saratoga, Greenway, Washington Highlands, and Congress Heights.