Police Union Reaches Out—With the News

Matthew Mahl is the newly elected chairman of the D.C. Police Union.

Everywhere, police associations are trying to find ways to bypass the media and even the hierarchy of their own agency to improve relations with the people they serve and protect. In Houston the “Pray for Police” and “Pray for Houston” campaigns using the power of prayer to bridge the gap with great success. The DC Police Union is trying another approach – sending out a crime report to the residents so they will be up to date on all the safety issues in their own neighborhoods. Below is a sample of the newsletter.

Here’s a sample of a recent newsletter. You can CLICK HERE to sign up to receive the newsletters.

DC Crime Summary – May 20th – 26th

There were several notable violent crimes and arrests this past week. • Demetrius Stevenson, 29, was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in an apartment complex in Garfield Heights. • A woman was robbed at gunpoint near Truxton Circle. The victim’s toddler was in the backseat of her car when she was approached by the assailant. • Keith Cooper, 23, was arrested and charged with drug trafficking and possession of illegal firearms. The suspect’s mother, 45-year-old Tracey Louise Cooper, was shot and killed earlier this month, but no arrest has been made in connection with the homicide. • John Prentice Hicks, 39, was arrested and is being held without bond. He was charged with assaulting a woman at knifepoint and sexually assaulting her while aboard a Red Line Metro train in April.

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Crime Map Update

Visit CrimeDC.com to see the latest crime alerts and trends.

Police News

Fox5DC: DC police chief says she is behind mayor’s new plan to boost shrinking police force “D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier tells FOX 5 that she is behind D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to ask the D.C. Council for more money to bolster a shrinking police force. Those funds would go toward increased salaries for officers the police chief would like to retain.”

Crime News

Fox5DC: Man killed in yet another DC daytime shooting “The victim, 29-year-old Demetrius Stevenson, of Southeast, DC, was found shot in the hallway of an apartment complex, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. He was transported to an area hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.”

Washington Post: Man critically wounded, four other people shot in D.C. on Monday “Five people, including two women, were shot Monday afternoon and evening in the District. One victim, a man, was in extremely critical condition. He was shot about 9:30 p.m. in the 2900 block of Second Street SE. He was unconscious and not breathing when found, said Officer Hugh Carew, a police spokesman.”

Washington Post: Son of woman fatally shot in District is arrested on drug, gun charges “The investigation into two fatal shootings in Southeast Washington that police think are linked expanded this week when federal authorities arrested the son of one victim and charged him with drug trafficking and possession of firearms.”

Washington Post: Fatal stabbing at Metro station followed argument over Instagram photo, authorities say “It all started with an argument over a photograph that was posted on Instagram, authorities say. It is not clear what the photo showed, but weeks later, a 15-year-old involved in the dispute lay dying, stabbed in the neck at the Deanwood Metro station.”

Washington Post: Man found unconscious near Capitol Hill was slain, police say “A man who was found with a head wound near Capitol Hill earlier this month has died, and the death has been ruled a homicide, D.C. police said. They said Shamel Lancaster, 28, of Southeast, died May 12 after being found unconscious about 3 a.m. May 8 in the 900 block of 8th Street SE. The site is near the Southeast Freeway and the southern edge of Capitol Hill.”

NBC Washington: Suspect Arrested in Sexual Assault Incident on Metro “Police said a Northeast D.C. man assaulted and tried to rape a woman riding on a Red Line Metro train at 10 a.m. in April. The suspect, John Prentice Hicks, 39, was charged with first-degree attempted rape, first-degree sexual offense and second-degree assault after police said he forced a woman to perform oral sex on him as he brandished a knife aboard a Red Line train traveling toward Glenmont on April 12.”

Washington Post: In D.C. rape case, defendant takes the stand to blame his own cousin for crime “Antwon Pitt, the 21-year-old man accused of raping a woman in a high-profile D.C. home invasion, testified this week that he was innocent and sought to cast blame on a family member.”

Washington Post: ‘It’s crazy out here,’ resident says of violence in one D.C. area “The laundromat near the Benning Road Metro station in Southeast Washington was called Mama’s long before Bernetta Cephas claimed the title when she came five years ago to work the 3-to-9 evening shift.”

NBC Washington: Mother Robbed at Gunpoint in Northwest DC “A woman was unloading items from her car with her toddler in the backseat in D.C. when a man came up and pointed a gun at her and demanded her belongings, police say. The woman told police the armed robbery happened in broad daylight about 5 p.m. in the 1700 block of 4th St. NW on Tuesday.”

Fox5DC: Teen shot in leg in Southeast DC “D.C. police said a teenager was shot in the leg Monday evening in Southeast D.C. The shooting occurred at around 7:27 p.m. in the 1900 block of Frederick Douglass Court.”

Fox5DC: 2 women injured in double shooting in Northeast DC “Two women have been shot Monday afternoon in Northeast D.C., police say. The shooting happened in the 3700 block of Hayes Street at around 3:41 p.m.”

NBC Washington: Intruder Sexually Assaults Woman in Mount Pleasant Home “A man broke into a woman’s home in Northwest D.C. early Tuesday morning and sexually assaulted her, police said. The assault took place about 12:30 a.m. in a home in the 1800 block of Ingleside Terrace NW in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The suspect fled in a red sweatshirt and jacket, police said.”