Obviously this is very inside the beltway, but we have many readers who reside therein. From a reader:
This news was devastating, but for me, not entirely shocking. I live on Porter St. in Cleveland Park. I moved to this neighborhood and was lucky enough to pay a premium in rent because I value my personal safety above all. Over the past year, numerous people have been mugged on Porter, Quebec, Macomb, and other Cleveland Park streets. We keep getting fliers in our apartment building warning us to be careful. Two people were recently mugged and beaten while walking together at 10 p.m. on a weeknight. People in the neighborhood have contacted our DC Council representative, and the police. The police have responded by putting a speed trap in front of our building — an unmarked van with no one in it that takes pictures of speeding cars. Really helpful. I feel very unsafe walking at night.
So, basically, while these neighborhoods are really nice, criminals come by for one-stop shopping for mugging well-to-do people. The police can’t be everywhere, and the city would go nuts if Cleveland Park or Gramercy St. were patrolled more often than the high-crime neighborhoods in Southeast. I have no idea what the solution is. But it’s damn scary.
Me: It is true these sorts of stories seem to be increasing, but mostly by word of mouth. As a matter of media sociology, it would be interesting to see if the press in Washington become fixated on this. Journalists have a tendency to take stories about “one of their own” much more seriously.