by Yuliya Panfil & Drew Schneider

Petworth has been rocked by nine shootings over the last month, most of them in broad daylight. Residents are upset, wanting to know why these acts of violence keep happening. Are they gang related? Targeted violence and “street beefs”? What’s going on?

When Petworth News reached out to a local MPD Lieutenant with questions of gang violence or targeted violence, a request for explanation as to what was actually happening and even a simple question about the location of a shooting, we were met with what was for all intents and purposes a “no comment” reply — we were told MPD can’t share any information, and our diligence on behalf of our community was “noble.” Thing is, people are scared, frustrated, fed up and want to see real change.

Here’s a short list of recent gun violence…

On Saturday, February 1st, just after 12:30 pm, a car drove past the Petworth playground at 8th and Taylor Streets NW, shots rang out from the car, children and parents dove for cover under slides, and a young man was shot in the foot.
At 5:45 pm on Thursday, February 13th, MPD was involved in a shootout with a suspect in an alley off of 7th and Upshur / Varnum. At least six shots rang out, residents walking home dove for cover, a mother on the block at home with her two daughters hid in the basement. An officer was injured, and after a pursuit with police, a man was gravely shot. He reportedly survived.
Also on February 13th, at approximately 3:30 pm several armed individuals entered a residence in the 4900 block of First St NW. Consequently, an exchange of gunfire occurred in the rear of the 5000 block of New Hampshire Ave, NW. One of the suspects was struck, apprehended and charged with Burglary while armed. One weapon was recovered from the scene.
Later on the evening of February 13th, another shooting, this time at 8th Street and Rock Creek Church Road, NW. One man was grazed with a bullet.
At 4:27 pm on the afternoon of February 22nd, gunfire erupted on the 700 block of Farragut Street NW. Two suspects in a grey Kia Soul fled the scene, striking two cars along the way.
Just up the road, half an hour later, two teenagers were shot and killed, and one of their mothers was wounded, inside an apartment complex on 13th and Peabody Street NW.
Later that same evening of the 22nd, a man was shot in the foot on the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and Quincy Street, NW.
Two days later, on February 24th, just after 12:30 pm multiple shots were fired outside the Petworth Metro station.
On Monday, March 2nd, just before 3 pm, a man was shot multiple times in the chest and killed in front of a liquor store on the 700 block of Quebec Place NW. Children at nearby EL Haynes Middle School hid from stray bullets in a locked down school as the scene unfolded.

Amid the carnage, Brightwood, Petworth and Park View community members fumed and prodded MPD and their elected officials for answers. They wanted to know why the shootings were occurring, whether they were related, and what the city was planning to do about it. The Petworth listserv exploded with increasingly exasperated emails, most of which were met with silence from city officials and police.

A community meeting on February 6th with various government agencies, including MPD, did little to assuage resident concerns. Residents were given commitments for increased patrols, promises to put more “violence interrupters” on the streets, to post MPD cars at corners.

On February 14th, Councilmember Brandon Todd sent a letter to the community, outlining commitments to combat the soaring gun violence. He pledged additional patrols, more resource officers in Ward 4 schools, and approved overtime for MPD specialized units, such as the Narcotics and Special Investigation Division (NSID) and gun recovery. He said he would convene a “Ward 4 Public Safety Task Force” next week to make sure different government agencies are coordinating efforts. He pledged weekly “public safety walks.”

On February 25th, Councilmember Todd sent a letter to the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Peter Newsham, asking him to establish a permanent Gang Prevention Task Force in the 4th District. To date, Newsham has not responded.

Fourth District Commander Randy Griffin reportedly said that, “Neither the Homicide Branch detectives nor the Fourth District detectives have determined any recent gun violence within the Fourth District to have been gang-related.”

The gun violence has continued.

In response, some have begun to quietly fire up their Zillow apps. Others circulated Change.org petitions. A few continued to send increasingly frustrated emails over neighborhood listservs, which garnered less and less of a response as community members realized there was little point in engaging.

Petworth is hardly unique. Violent crime is up across the District. DC ended 2019 with 166 homicides, a 12-year-high. The district has already seen 29 homicides in 2020.

What’s even more troubling is that alleged perpetrators are not being prosecuted. According to DC Safe, as of February 28th, 15 of the 16 people charged with homicide in the District are out on pre-trial release. In 2018, 50% of homicide offenders had a prior gun offense, and in over 30% of homicides, the perpetrator was under pre-trial release for a different charge.

Recent news articles have outlined the growing tension between MPD, which makes arrests, and the US Attorney’s Office, which refuses to prosecute the perpetrators. A recent WTOP article described Police Chief Peter Newsham as saying that he cannot think of any circumstance where a person with probable cause to be charged in a homicide — especially when a gun is involved — should be released back into the community. Chief Newsham has been very publicly vocal with his displeasure with the policies and practices of the USAO’s office.

“I don’t think the right of that individual criminal defendant who has been, with probable cause, found to have committed murder, that his right (is) more important than the rights of all the other people who live in that community to be free from the fear of violence,” Newsham told reporters.

Multiple drug markets continue to operate in the Petworth community, and at least two of the shooting occurred near these drug markets. In February, ANC 4C Commissioner Jonah Goodman, who has been very active on the email listservs, circulated a partial list of these drug markets, indicating that their location is well known:

4th and Taylor St. NW
700 Varnum St. NW
9th and Quincy St. NW (and Raymond Rec Center property)
10th and Quebec Place NW
4th and Delafield St. NW
8th and Crittenden St. NW
Kansas and Shepherd St. NW
8/9th and Jefferson St. NW

And yet, MPD appears unable to shut these drug markets down. It’s unclear whether the recent shootings are linked to the drug markets, but an inability to put a stop to chronic drug dealing in broad daylight doesn’t inspire confidence.

Commissioner Goodman has garnered much praise in the neighborhood for his continual emails outlining options for DC government to pursue. Publicly, there’s been no response to his detailed proposals.

What’s clear is that MPD is a reactive force, not a proactive force. Beyond posting a squad car at an intersection, there’s little MPD can do, according to Fourth District Commander Randy Griffin. Commander Griffin has stated that officers should only be patrolling neighborhoods in scout cars, not on bikes or on foot, as they need to be able to respond quickly to crime. The commander also states that DC has an adequate number of officers for their tasks. One of these positions is likely incorrect.

What’s the solution? Unfortunately the most intuitive short-term fix — increasing police — is not a realistic panacea. No resident wants to live in a police state. Community member confidence is not high, as reports on listservs have described seeing parked patrol cars adjacent to where shootings are occurring, with police officers asleep inside or playing on their phones.

Likely, the answer is a combination of preventative measures (like increasing the number of after-school programs and other support networks for teens) and tougher sentencing and prosecution tactics to keep offenders off the streets.

Some want the return of the VICE squads back to DC (without the jump-outs that target people of color). They want proactive policing of known bad actors, known drug markets, known places of illegal activity. And they want this combined with long-term programs to reduce violence, such as bringing in neighborhood violence interrupters, “Roving Leaders,” school programs and more. MPD needs to reduce attrition — and acknowledge that they are below the staffing and resource levels they need.

Repeatedly, residents are asking what they can do directly to improve conditions. So far, the response has been to attend local Police Service Area meetings, join the Councilmember’s safety meetings, and show MPD and city leadership that the pressure from the community will not let up.

Okay. You can reach Councilmember Brandon Todd at btodd@dccouncil.us and @cmbrandontodd on Twitter. The Mayor is muriel.bowser@dc.gov.

Ed note: The article has been updated to reflect that EL Haynes middle school was in lockdown status during the shooting on Monday, March 2nd.