“Some of the mechanisms by which we catch these people in the first place have weakened in recent years,” says Currie. Usually, a crime is solved because “someone talks,” he explains. “But if any sort of trust or rapport between law enforcement and the community breaks down completely— as it has in many places—it makes it much harder to find who did it.”
DC residents have long had a contentious relationship with MPD, and the federal invasion is no doubt making it worse. “What Trump is doing is destroying relationships with cops and people who live here,” Currie says. If the administration really wanted to help lower the murder rate, he notes, it would address the low clearance rates. But to do that, you can’t just trade community work and sensitive policing for “those nine guys standing on the corner looking uncomfortable.”
By starving communities of the violence prevention, behavioral health services, and other investments that young people in particular need to flourish, Currie says, “We’re priming ourselves for another spike in crime.”