Crime in Trinidad During the Pandemic

Crime in Trinidad is a complicated topic to write about. If you’re new to D.C. or the neighborhood, you may not know that in 2008, the Metropolitan Police Department set up checkpoints at the neighborhood’s borders, which lead an ACLU lawyer to say, “Welcome to Baghdad, D.C.” The next year a federal judge ruled the checkpoints unconstitutional.

A lot has changed in twelve years. Using the DC Crime Cards, you can see that this year the Police Service Area of Trinidad and Ivy City (506) has actually been pretty similar to neighboring PSA 507, which includes Gallaudet, Union Market, NoMA and a good chunk of Near Northeast. (As if this wasn't complicated enough, these are different from the ANC Single Member Districts, like 5D06, etc. The "5" comes from MPD's Fifth District, not Ward 5.)

But crime really depends on what you’re talking about, and where you’re talking about it. For example, we haven’t had any homicides in Trinidad this year. In 2008, there were 10 homicides in Trinidad including a triple homicide on Holbrook Street. But right next door on the other side, in the PSA with Carver-Langston and Kingman Park, there have been eleven homicides this year, up from four last year. These numbers might seem small, but the circumstances are likely horrific and life-changing for the families of those involved in each incident. 

So what about the pandemic? Has that changed anything?

number of cops: unchanged.

city services: unchanged.

unemployment: extremely high.

crime: holy yikes.

— Peter Krupa (@peterkrupa) October 12, 2020

In Trinidad, you can see in the top image that crime is actually down over last year, except in a few categories, mainly assault with a dangerous weapon and motor vehicle theft. In the city overall, crime is also down. However, homicide, burglary, car theft and arson have increased significantly. Still, and this is not at all to suggest that we should be satisfied with any number of violent deaths, the homicide numbers are not too different from recent years. And they are far, far lower than in the crack epidemic, as in 1988 when there were 372 homicides. 

This is all to say that crime, like I said up top, is complicated. This blog does not, and will not ever, post frequently enough to keep up with the news coming out of the Fifth District. I’m a volunteer and I don’t have the resources to interview people involved, which means I would simply be repeating what the police are saying nearly every time. Also, if you live here, that means you know that the crime isn’t most, or even half, of what living here is about. And yet, nearly all of the news about our neighborhood from some sources is about crime. So, I’m not saying that I won’t ever write about crime on this site — I’m sure I will — but I’ll do my best to do it carefully, and keep it in the appropriate context.

One more thing: Every winter the police come to ANC meetings (although they haven’t been very consistent lately) and remind neighbors to be mindful that package theft increases towards the holidays and to never leave anything visible in your car overnight.

Images from DC Crime Cards.