So incredibly frustrating. This area just seems to be ignored by the city entirely. There have been so many shootings here yet so little done to address the drug dealing and gang control that is causing these shootings. Policing here continues to be scarce and we get almost no reaction from city officials when a shooting like this occurs. It’s no wonder that so many residents have left in recent years.

I do wish there was more communicated when there is a shooting.

There was a shot fired last night in the vicinity of Taylor/Marlboro Pl. around 5 PM. The cops responded quickly but there has been no information shared about what transpired. More often than not it seems if the shots don’t hit a target the incident didn’t even occur and doesn’t merit inclusion in any of the police e-mails.

I can think of at last 4 occasions on which shots were fired in this general area in the past 3-4 months without any information being shared with the public despite a rapid police response.

Yeah, the police list serv is the source of the “police e-mails” I referenced. Shootings are generally only reported when a person is hit or property damage occurs.

Call me crazy, but while I have no problem calling the police when I hear shots fired I’m not interested in having my easily googleable name attached to e-mails that are publicly available. I’m not particularly interested in making myself an obvious target. I guess I could create a fake e-mail address and name for use only on police list servs, but my frustration over the lack of information hasn’t reached that point yet.

Ward4Resident, I share your frustration, I am also on the listserv and that area has been discussed ad nauseum for years now. The issue is that neither the Ward 4 Councilmember, Bowser, sees crime as a problem, nor does the council in general, and nor does the mayor. None of them have to live in an area like this, nor do they ride buses or interact with areas like that (Barry possibly being the exception). The tepid “debate” over the crime bill this summer was ample example of that. Your choices are to express your opinion in next years election, where you can possibly remove Bowser, Mendelson (chair of the public safety committee), and Fenty in one go. Or at least the first two.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you and I have many choices beyond that, other than moving. We are second class citizens at best in DC and don’t warrant the attention that other areas get. At least be grateful you don’t live in one of the worse neighborhoods, I guess.

Just how do we expect the police to fix this problem?

If you have kids so screwed up that they are willing to shoot each other, no economically feasible policing regime is going to solve that problem for you.

A generation of politically expedient “get tough on crime” measures has only led to the US becoming the world’s top producer of prisoners.

Meanwhile, we have no stomach for the things that would really reduce our violent crime epidemic. Things like reforming the puritanical drug laws that have created huge profits for criminal gangs. Or providing strong social supports to ensure that parents have the best possible chance to raise healthy, well-adjusted kids. Or perhaps even fixing our tax system to reverse the headlong rush towards ever-increasing income inequality that has atrophyied the middle class.

The solutions are out there. They’re just very, very, very unpalatable to the established political order. It’s so much easier and safer just to pass tougher laws, hire more cops, and build more prisons: it might not solve the problem, but it’s a surer ticket to re-election than actually facing the underlying issues.

WK I won’t disagree on any particular point, but in that particular area (Kennedy –> Longfellow) you have an established group of violent guys. This isn’t about esoteric solutions to vague societal problems, this is about bad guys acting with impunity. While not a solution to all societal problems, putting them away off the streets is a guaranteed life saver. Unfortunately, stopping guys like these is not a priority for our elected officials, who’d rather discuss the policy esoteria you mention. I’d say lets not discuss the vagaries of drug laws, lets stop incarcerating drug users to save space for violent bad guys. There has to be a middle ground between too much law enforcement and none, right?

“There was a shot fired last night in the vicinity of Taylor/Marlboro Pl. around 5 PM. The cops responded quickly but there has been no information shared about what transpired. More often than not it seems if the shots don’t hit a target the incident didn’t even occur and doesn’t merit inclusion in any of the police e-mails.”

Ask an MPD official via-email if the CIC reported shots fired. If they don’t want to reveal that, ask for the narrative off the PD-251 for the report of “Sounds of Gunshots”.

“Call me crazy, but while I have no problem calling the police when I hear shots fired I’m not interested in having my easily googleable name attached to e-mails that are publicly available. I’m not particularly interested in making myself an obvious target. I guess I could create a fake e-mail address and name for use only on police list servs, but my frustration over the lack of information hasn’t reached that point yet.”

Don’t e-mail 4th District about this and not call. Call 911 immediately and PLEASE leave a callback number. Sounds of Gunshots calls are relayed to units over the air ASAP and there’s always a canvas.

“West Kansas has a good point. This is not random violence but drug dealers killing each other. How exactly do you expect the police to stop these shootings?”

We can’t stop them all because there are only so many bodies and so much area to cover. Posting up on a street is only a band-aid because the problem individuals live there and because the court system is so fucked the same idiots are arrested constantly. I’ve picked up guys on felony warrants and found them with distribution-level drugs in their pockets and I hear that they’re re-arrested inside of a few weeks for something equally stupid. We sit around just as pissed off about the justice system as you do.

No name, please tell us what to do. We can vote against Mendelson and Bowser and whoever else, but is there any way to bring the courts into this more forcefully? Is the only way to them through Mendelson?

Great, I am demanding change. Now what?