106 The state of violence in a pandemic with ANC of Ward 8 Robbie Woodland

RealTalk with The6thman

2020 has started off as a deadly year in the District of Columbia, with nearly 30 homicides in the first three months alone. Wards 5 and 6 have seen the bulk of the year's violence to-date, with seven homicides apiece. Ward 8 had seen five homicides to-date, including, as of March 3, the city's two most recent homicides. One of those was the murder of 13-year-old Malachi Lukes, which was caught on a nearby home's doorbell camera. As of the beginning of March, D.C.'s homicide rate was running on par with 2019, and well ahead of 2018 and 2017, which ended February with 17 and 14 homicides, respectively. As of March 3, only seven of the city's 29 homicides had resulted in arrests. Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Peter Newsham said the city is on pace to have the same number of murders in 2020 as in 2019. Last year there were 166, which marks a 10-year high. Of that total, 58 of the victims were under the age of 24, 153 were black and 154 were men. “We’re unnecessarily losing people to gun violence,” Newsham said. So far this year, there have been 68 gunshot victims. Last year there was a total of 690. As for the suspects of the crimes, 92% had prior arrests. The average number of arrests they had was 10. Half were gun-related and 59% were for violent crimes. “We want to ensure that small group of repeat violent offenders are held accountable. I think we’ll be able to impact that homicide number we’re seeing,” Newsham said. In a city convulsed by Black Lives Matter protests and experiencing a surge of deadly violence, the Fourth of July cookout was supposed to be a small step forward. The family-focused event was organized by Crystal McNeal, whose job as a city “violence interrupter” means she spends her days with some of the District’s most hardened criminals, mediating disputes and trying to persuade them to put down their firearms. Davon McNeal 11-year-old was fatally shot after the anti-violence cookout. Christopher Brown 17 years old and father of 2 (1 child otw) was killed in the mass shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning. 20 others wounded after mass shooting at cookout in Southeast DC including an off duty police officer who’s still in critical condition fighting for her life. It’s the state of violence in the pandemic! #therealtalkpodcast