WASHINGTON — Business owners and neighbors along the H Street Corridor in Northeast DC met with police Tuesday evening to strategize a safety plan amid a rise in crime.
The "Disrupt H Street" meeting was held on H Street's Atlas theater, just across the street from Cru Hookah Lounge where last month a father of three was shot and killed.
"It's our neighborhood and our business so we have to find a way to come together and solve these issues," said one of the event organizers Anwar Saleem, who is the director of H Street Main Street Inc.
During the over hour-long meeting, Capt. Sherrelle Williams with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) heard from frustrated residents and business owners. She shared with the attendees that she had been assigned to the corridor following the shooting at Cru Hookah Lounge.
"Burglaries, robberies, and some of the homelessness that is taking place and some of the mental health issues," that's what Saleem says are the most common complaints from businesses in the area.
Saleem points to community policing as partial solution to the crime in the area. He advocates for having more officers walking the streets and engaging with the community.
Residents also expressed concerns about the open air drug markets and lack of resources they believe are being assigned to the H Street corridor.
"The new bike details has helped a bit, but one of the problems we have is that we vaguely share a jurisdiction with Chinatown so they have to keep the Capitals and Wizards happy," Tony Tomelden, owner of The Pug told WUSA9. He says he does not plan to move his bar from the corridor, but is concerned that others might choose to leave the District because of the crime.
Overall crime is up 28% in the District and the H Street Corridor is seeing a similar uptick, according to DC police data. The crime dashboard shows that in the half-mile radius around the Atlas Theater there have been 1,059 incidents of crime in the area so far this year compared to 854 during the same period last year. Homicides, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, are all up this year compared to 2022.
"I get out before they start shooting that's what I try to do," native Washingtonian Betty Terrell told WUSA9 as she was leaving her hair appointment on H Street.
At 76, Terrell says she has seen a lot of changes in the District, but lately she's been concerned. "It's kids 14 and fifteen killing people," she added. The 76-year-old mentioned Monday's shooting nearby Hechinger Mall that left one man dead in broad daylight along Maryland Avenue NE.
During the meeting Captain Williams said she needed to hear from neighbors because there are so many details that are missed beyond reading a daily crime report. She also plans to follow up with interviews to get a sense of what changes need to be made to make H Street safer.
Just last week, MPD released video of a September burglary at the restaurant Lydia on H.