jsteele wrote:It seems like every day there are multiple shootings in DC. Many of them are full out gunfights that you might expect in the O.K. Corral -- multiple shooters and 10s of bullets flying everywhere. I moved to DC in 1986 in the midst of the crack epidemic when daily murders were a normal thing. But we knew what they were tied to drugs. Now, I have no idea what is provoking these shootings and I see no discussion of the causes anywhere (there maybe some that I've missed). Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

I, for one, thank you for not only allowing, but also starting this thread. A well-known DC blog has banished all discussion about crime.

In my opinion it’s nothing complicated or mind bending.
Simple case of a gradual shift in culture with regard to how conflicts are resolved coupled with a gradual shift in commerce with regard to the availability of firearms.

When I was growing up in the 80’s the cultural norm in DC was that dudes fought. Like actually put their hands up at school or on the basketball court or on the street corner (wherever) and straight up fought somebody they had a problem with.

Feelings got hurt and asses got whupped but dudes lived to see another day and ultimately shit got squashed. That was the culture.

Also one of the main reasons that shootings were primarily drug/gang related when I was growing up in the 80’s was because not only was the cultural norm that only drug dealers and gang members carried guns but economically the o my people who could afford things like pagers and cell phones and guns were drug dealers and gang members.

Fast forward a few years and by the time I’m a sophomore in high school I had a pager. Everyone had one. And gradually more and more people were getting cell phones and yea...guns too. The commerce side shifted and made shit more accessible and affordable.

That fast forward a few years saw a cultural shift as well with regard to conflicts. With all that crack money flowing and every drug dealer and gang member trying to be a baller and rocking bling and popping bottles in clubs disputes became less about who can whip who’s ass but who has the artillery to back up their big talk.

Average everyday dudes started getting guns cause the culture started shifting away from fists towards firearms and the commerce started shifting towards more available and affordable guns.

Basically things just changed.
In my teens dudes fought and nobody was packing.
Nowadays dudes rarely throw down they simply track for their gun when confronted cause everybody is packing.

Least that’s my take.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Do you have statistics on how many of these shootings have been done by people who were previously arrested and then released? We can all make claims that fit our prior political beliefs, but I would like to see hard evidence.

I'll repeat what Chief Newsham and the Mayor say EVERYTIME there is a shooting.

"50% of the people arrested for homicide had a prior gun offense. In 90% of those cases, the suspect had a criminal history with an average of 10 arrests. And in a third of those cases, the person was under pretrial or parole supervision at the time they committed the homicide."

That is a quote that can be pulled off of a thousand websites. I pulled it from NPR to ensure I was not paraphrasing.

And that is only the shootings that end up as a homicide.

It looks like that was a statement made in 2018 and has been repeated a lot. I don't know if that reflects current statistics or not. Are you aware that violent crimes are tried by the US Attorney? What exactly do you think is Charles Allen's role in this?

He is still making the same quote. Chief Newsham is pretty concistant with his stats. That might be an old quote, two years, but he does repeat it all the time.

I am very pro our MPD. I think that as far as nationwide police departments go, MPD is pretty darn good where they are not constrained (auto theft and other property crime).

However, their packages which they refer to the States Attorney are laughable and would not be prosecuted anywhere. I can only assume that is because the city does not want these cases prosecuted.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Do you have statistics on how many of these shootings have been done by people who were previously arrested and then released? We can all make claims that fit our prior political beliefs, but I would like to see hard evidence.

I'll repeat what Chief Newsham and the Mayor say EVERYTIME there is a shooting.

"50% of the people arrested for homicide had a prior gun offense. In 90% of those cases, the suspect had a criminal history with an average of 10 arrests. And in a third of those cases, the person was under pretrial or parole supervision at the time they committed the homicide."

That is a quote that can be pulled off of a thousand websites. I pulled it from NPR to ensure I was not paraphrasing.

And that is only the shootings that end up as a homicide.

It looks like that was a statement made in 2018 and has been repeated a lot. I don't know if that reflects current statistics or not. Are you aware that violent crimes are tried by the US Attorney? What exactly do you think is Charles Allen's role in this?

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Do you have statistics on how many of these shootings have been done by people who were previously arrested and then released? We can all make claims that fit our prior political beliefs, but I would like to see hard evidence.

I'll repeat what Chief Newsham and the Mayor say EVERYTIME there is a shooting.

"50% of the people arrested for homicide had a prior gun offense. In 90% of those cases, the suspect had a criminal history with an average of 10 arrests. And in a third of those cases, the person was under pretrial or parole supervision at the time they committed the homicide."

That is a quote that can be pulled off of a thousand websites. I pulled it from NPR to ensure I was not paraphrasing.

And that is only the shootings that end up as a homicide.

DP but it didn't take much searching to find a WP article where the police chief expicitly states:

"D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham has blamed the spike in homicides on a proliferation of illegal firearms. He argues that many of those arrested are being treated too leniently by the criminal justice system and commit new offenses when they return to the community."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-homicides-surpass-2019-total/2020/11/03/d33c013c-1dd5-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Do you have statistics on how many of these shootings have been done by people who were previously arrested and then released? We can all make claims that fit our prior political beliefs, but I would like to see hard evidence.

I'll repeat what Chief Newsham and the Mayor say EVERYTIME there is a shooting.

"50% of the people arrested for homicide had a prior gun offense. In 90% of those cases, the suspect had a criminal history with an average of 10 arrests. And in a third of those cases, the person was under pretrial or parole supervision at the time they committed the homicide."

That is a quote that can be pulled off of a thousand websites. I pulled it from NPR to ensure I was not paraphrasing.

And that is only the shootings that end up as a homicide.

Anonymous wrote:It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Do you have statistics on how many of these shootings have been done by people who were previously arrested and then released? We can all make claims that fit our prior political beliefs, but I would like to see hard evidence.

I like Allen but the criminal coddling I do not. I don't think most people want drug offenders locked up period, let alone with inaccessible cash bail. But the violent offenders? Enough is enough.

I hope he gets a good democratic challenger finally.

Anonymous wrote:Prison for large swathes of the population is not the answer, and it costs a lot of money for the taxpayer. Gun control nationwide is the partial answer, as is, of course, getting out of crushing and generational economic malaise.

Citations? Imprisoning criminals doesn't reduce crime? lol

Prison for large swathes of the population is not the answer, and it costs a lot of money for the taxpayer. Gun control nationwide is the partial answer, as is, of course, getting out of crushing and generational economic malaise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's going to take some time to figure it out with more specificity, but we're in the midst of a massive social upheaval. A lot of people are out of work or making less money. Many people have lost family members to Covid. And the rhythms and geography of the city are changed because people are working from home, office buildings are half empty, and people are not socializing in the same ways or with the same freedom. Oh, and kids are not in school.

It's a very unsettling time for everyone, and for people who are already living unstable lives, it is particularly dangerous. People are under more pressure due to job loss, loss of childcare, etc. People can't blow of steam in the ways they used to. They might not be able to get away from people with whom they have a conflict. Everything escalates. It's awful how many people have been violently killed this year, and it's also amazing it hasn't been worse.

Thank you PP for reminding us of the incredible harm COVID and the Fed's abysmal response has been for so many DC residents. And for having compassion.

This has nothing to do with COVID or the Fed.

It is because DC criminal justice is a turnstile. All of these shooters are released. Then they shoot again. Not sure why we are surprised. Ask councilman Allen.

Beefs between crews. With gentrification, there's less turf for crews to stake as their own, so they're pushed into closer proximity (higher density low income housing) where there's more opportunity for conflict. Similar with drug dealers competing over fewer customers in gentrifying neighborhoods. Throw in all the social and economic disruptions from COVID, with large swathes of young men having nothing productive to do with their days and a lot of rage to express, and you have a recipe for violence.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's going to take some time to figure it out with more specificity, but we're in the midst of a massive social upheaval. A lot of people are out of work or making less money. Many people have lost family members to Covid. And the rhythms and geography of the city are changed because people are working from home, office buildings are half empty, and people are not socializing in the same ways or with the same freedom. Oh, and kids are not in school.

It's a very unsettling time for everyone, and for people who are already living unstable lives, it is particularly dangerous. People are under more pressure due to job loss, loss of childcare, etc. People can't blow of steam in the ways they used to. They might not be able to get away from people with whom they have a conflict. Everything escalates. It's awful how many people have been violently killed this year, and it's also amazing it hasn't been worse.

Thank you PP for reminding us of the incredible harm COVID and the Fed's abysmal response has been for so many DC residents. And for having compassion.

I think it's going to take some time to figure it out with more specificity, but we're in the midst of a massive social upheaval. A lot of people are out of work or making less money. Many people have lost family members to Covid. And the rhythms and geography of the city are changed because people are working from home, office buildings are half empty, and people are not socializing in the same ways or with the same freedom. Oh, and kids are not in school.

It's a very unsettling time for everyone, and for people who are already living unstable lives, it is particularly dangerous. People are under more pressure due to job loss, loss of childcare, etc. People can't blow of steam in the ways they used to. They might not be able to get away from people with whom they have a conflict. Everything escalates. It's awful how many people have been violently killed this year, and it's also amazing it hasn't been worse.

It seems like every day there are multiple shootings in DC. Many of them are full out gunfights that you might expect in the O.K. Corral -- multiple shooters and 10s of bullets flying everywhere. I moved to DC in 1986 in the midst of the crack epidemic when daily murders were a normal thing. But we knew what they were tied to drugs. Now, I have no idea what is provoking these shootings and I see no discussion of the causes anywhere (there maybe some that I've missed). Does anyone have any idea what is going on?