All available metropolitan police officers will be on patrol this weekend.
The 2010 All Hands On Deck (AHOD) initiative has begun. The goal is to prevent crime by flooding the streets with all available officers.
It's already been a violent year in the District. In March, four people were killed and five others wounded in a drive-by shooting that became the deadliest night of violence in the District in recent history. Last weekend, six people were shot during several unrelated crimes around the District. One victim was a 16-year-old boy who later died.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier gathered with officers at about 4 p.m. Friday in Southeast.
Despite the recent violence, Fenty said the District's homicide rate is 30 percent below last year's level.
"D.C. used to be the murder capital of the world. Back in the '80s we almost got to 500 homicides a year. Now, we still have too many homicides, without any question, but last year we were down to levels that we hadn't seen in the city since 1966," Fenty said.
The All Hands on Deck initiative was started by Lanier in 2007. Police sergeants, lieutenants, captains, commanders, assistant chiefs join the officers already on patrol during the AHOD weekends.
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Friday afternoon, Lanier unveiled their summer strategy. They will be targeting repeat offenders who come to D.C. in the summer to "wreak havoc."
