robbery, burglary, theft
I started reading the Current newspapers recently. Their coverage of local issues is pretty great, but one thing in particular that shocks and intrigues me is the police blotter. I live in Adams Morgan and already knew that my block isn’t the safest—there’s drug dealing going on across the street, and our house was burglarized during the day a couple years ago. But, man, it turns out that crimes occur here all the time! Last week my block was mentioned in the police report twice (robbery [knife]; burglary), and the week before, it was in there four times (robbery [force and violence]; burglary (twice); theft from auto [below $250]).
What’s most shocking is that I haven’t heard about any of these recent crimes. One of my roommates has a nose for crime and always seems to be around during driveby shootings, car breakins, etc., but I’ve missed them all. It almost feels like I live on a parallel planet. Is Adams Morgan really that dangerous?
My stepson and his girlfriend used to live at 17th and Euclid and loved to tell us how safe it was. "The crack dealers in the row house on the corner don’t want anyone messing with their customer or causing the police to be brought in so they keep the street crime down." Oddly enough, they lived there two years…and nothing ever happened to them.
That’s right where I live, so maybe there’s some truth to that–though of late, the police seem to have scared the crack dealers away.
I don’t think Adams Morgan is any more or less dangerous than other neighborhoods. Occasionally I’ll pick up the Current and am always surprised to see the list of crime in Dupont Circle and Georgetown.
Then again, when you really read through the gritty details, most of the assaults and robberies occur at 2 or 3 am and not at noon in broad daylight.