Dateline: Washington, D.C.

A DC Police Union press release, issued on June 7th 2023, states that on June 6th 2023 Washington, D.C. suffered its 100th homicide. This is the earliest date in any year that the city has reached 100 homicides since 2003.

The District of Columbia has one of the highest murder rates per capita in America. This is a startlingly high rate compared to other cities throughout the country, making it even more apparent that something needs to be done to make the streets safer. But it seems as though city officials have no idea what needs to be done.

There are many potential causes for this jump in crime which include poverty, inequality, gang activity, and the availability of firearms. In addition, the failure of the DC court system to keep a dangerous felon in jail after arrest is a serious contributing factor.

To many repeat violators are being released back into the general public only to commit additional violent crimes while on bail or personal recognizance awaiting trial on a previous arrest.

Juveniles offenders don’t fear arrests for violent crimes because they rarely get charged as adults. If they do initially get charged as adults, by the time the case gets to court the charges have usually been reduced or the defendant has pled to a much lesser felony charge or a misdemeanor.

Unfortunately, due to its unique status as a federal district rather than a state, the District of Columbia has limited power when it comes to formulating its own laws or implementing specific measures that could help combat crime.

Filed under: The Watch Desk

Young man killed as Park Police fire Multiple shots.

Released dash cam VIDEO shows U.S. Park Police officers firing nine shots into an SUV who’s driver left the scene of a traffic accident, where reportedly he was the victim, then motored off again twice after stopping for perusing officers. Bijan Ghaisar, of McLean Virginia, died approximately two weeks after suffering a fatal head wound.

This was a young man who was probably scared to remain stopped because of some over aggressive police officers beating on his car door and window while screaming at him and brandishing semi-automatic weapons in his face. Its no wonder he took off twice before the final stop that ended his life.

The Concerned Citizen thinks that this is a classic case of “Contempt of Cop”. The officers involved were infuriated because this young man had the nerve to disobey their commands.

Park Police POLICY states that a vehicular pursuit is authorized only when: “The officer has reason to believe a felony has occurred or is occurring, or the suspect presents a clear and immediate threat to public safety.” It also states: “The act of fleeing and eluding the police shall not in itself be a pursuable offense.”

The FBI is investigating the shooting.

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Filed under: The Watch Desk

Sources advise us of a security threat near the White House that involved officers of the Secret Service who encountered a man with a loaded gun in his car. DC’s 911 center (OUC) was called and DC police, fire, and ems units were also dispatched; however, the fire & ems units were sent to the wrong location.

An operator/dispatcher at the Office of Unified Communications was instructed to send units to Madison Place and H Street Northwest; however, the dispatcher sent the fire/ems units to Madison Street and 8th Street Northwest, causing a considerable delay in service.

Management at the OUC is aware of this failure in service and will investigate. The Concerned Citizen plans to  track this incident and update readers as additional information becomes available.

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Filed under: The Watch Desk

The United States intelligence community has recently warned First Responders and the agencies they work for  about the escalating efforts of cyberterrorists to target them and their missions.

The Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT), an alliance between the FBI, DHS and the National Counterterrorism Center, told first responders, “We assess with moderate confidence that cyber actors, including those who support violent extremism, are likely to continue targeting first responders on the World Wide Web by distributing their personally identifiable information for the purpose of soliciting attacks from willing sympathizers in the homeland, hacking government websites, or attacking 911 phone systems to hinder first responders’ ability to respond to crises.” This practice took on greater importance after a vulnerability was discovered in D.C. shortly before the presidential inauguration in January.

First responders are encouraged to report suspicious activity to law enforcement by calling the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) Security Operations Center at 1-866-787-4722 or emailing soc@msisac.org.

Read the full story: http://wtop.com/national-security/2017/09/cyber-terrorists-targeting-first-responders/

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Filed under: The Watch Desk

The first major shutdown of the Metro DMV subway system begins today.

The blue, orange, and silver lines will be closed entirely between the Minnesota Avenue and Eastern Market stations. The shutdown runs through July 3rd and will affect the commute for tens of thousands of people, particularly those who take Metro from Prince George’s County, Maryland. Metro will offer bus service between the two closed stations, but general manager Paul Wiedefeld cautioned riders that the buses simply will not be able to handle the number of people who usually ride the subway during rush hour.

Government agencies are being urged to allow workers affected by the shutdown to modify their work schedules.  Contributed by:  p_smith@ccindc.com

Filed under: The Watch Desk