Most D.C. Homicide Victims Had Arrests
Analysis Highlights 'Criminal Subculture'
By Neely Tucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 15, 2004; Page A01
Nearly three of every four adult homicide victims in the District last year had an arrest history, according to an analysis of court records that casts new light on why the city has one of the highest homicide rates in the country.
The more than 150 slayings are evidence of the cycles of violence plaguing a city hard-hit in the past two decades by drug wars and gang rivalries, law enforcement and criminal justice specialists said, and a blunt statement about the risks of becoming caught up in a lifestyle on the edges of the law.
Although the 248 killings last year were a sharp drop from the homicide tolls of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there is a resilient "criminal subculture" in the city, Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said in an interview. Ramsey said this group has grown so entrenched and well armed that it poses a risk to the District's attempts to renew its image and create a better future for its rougher neighborhoods.
"It's a huge problem," Ramsey said.
He and other law enforcement officials cautioned against "blaming the victim for being a victim." At the same time, however, Ramsey said an arrest is often at least an indication that the person participated in, or simply couldn't get away from, risky situations.
"Whether you've got a record or not, no one has the right to kill you -- but when you look at homicides in particular, it's just not unusual to have people involved on both sides to have prior experience within our [criminal justice] system," he said. "The fact is that if you are part of that criminal subculture, or just associated with it, that puts you more at risk."
Posted by P6 at February 15, 2004 09:42 AM
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Comments
There's nothing new about this study. The data has been out there and the correct conclusions drawn for years. This is where we get the "alarming" "child-death" numbers in America. Drug-dealing gang-bangers killing each other. (It is even better when you do like the VPC and count anyone up to 19 as a "child".)
Posted by Phelps at February 16, 2004 02:05 PMMy position on gang violence has always been: teach the bangers how to shoot. That way fewer innocents get caught up in it, and they'll thin their ranks themselves.
Posted by P6 at February 17, 2004 06:59 AM