It was a violent weekend in Southeast D.C. near Navy Yard: Just hours after a deadly shooting by the Navy Yard Metro station, another shooting took place just a few yards away on Tingey Street.
This snapshot of crime, just eight days into the year, is only a small sampling of violence in the District, and it's concerning some residents in the neighborhood.
Compared to this time in 2022, thefts from cars are up 30%, while thefts of cars are up 113%, numbers from D.C. police show. Robberies have increased by 57%, and overall property crime -- which includes offenses such as burglary, theft and arson -- are up 42% over this time in 2022.
The killing of 22-year-old Terry Clarke of Southeast D.C. outside the Navy Yard Metro station on Saturday night was among six for the first week of the year. That's twice the number of homicides during the first week of 2022.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
"I'm from New Jersey, and I feel like crime is spiking everywhere," one woman in Navy Yard told News4. "And it is definitely a concern."
Overall, homicides fell slightly from 2021, which ended with 226 homicides, to 2022, which had 203. Serious assaults in D.C. were also down in 2022 from the previous year -- though the victims of the violent crimes that did take place were juveniles more often than in years past.
On the other hand, carjackings in D.C. spiked in mid-April 2022 when compared to April 2021, increasing by 46%.
Over the past two years, according to D.C. police, the total number of crimes is down when compared to the two-year period before.
All subcategories of crime, except for homicide and motor vehicle theft, decreased between Jan. 2021 and Jan. 2023 when compared to the period of Jan. 2019 to Jan 2021. And that's part of a downward trend in overall crime for the past seven years, when compared to the seven years from 2009 to 2016.
In Navy Yard -- which, so far in 2023, is seeing increases in crime almost double the first week of 2022 -- the feeling of safety on the streets is more encouraging than 2023's earliest numbers.
"I do feel safe," said one man in the area. "I do understand that crime is happening."
"Everything is easy to locate, it's really walkable and I've felt safe," said another woman.
Others who live around the burgeoning development do have a sense of foreboding.
"I think the mayor needs to do a better job," said another man in Navy Yard. "She needs to wake up, and there needs to be better law enforcement in the area. Otherwise people will leave."
D.C. is in the midst of restructuring its criminal code for the first time in more than a century. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council still have to work out differences over doing away with some mandatory minimum sentences, as well as reducing the mandatory maximum sentences.
While the issues of crime and punishment are being hashed out, even the residents who say they feel safe are staying vigilant on the streets.
