WASHINGTON — Is Metro cracking down on crime? New numbers seem to show crime on the decline across the transit system.
WUSA9 went out to ask riders if they noticed. We stepped onto the Metro Center platform to ask people about crime and immediately we got two reactions.
“I saw two shootings last year at Gallery Place on the news,” rider Sam Greener told WUSA9. “I feel [Metro safety] is about the same. It hasn’t gotten much better – maybe even a little worse.”
However, other riders like Lauretta Simms think the panic is overblown.
“I feel Metro is safe,” she said. “I think they overdo it talking about Metro [crime].”
But the numbers show it's somewhere in the middle.
Metro General Manager Randy Clarke walked WUSA9 through the numbers. He said crime overall is down 14% year over year. He said this is seen across all categories: assaults, thefts, robberies, etc.
He credits increased police patrols, hiring of special officers and crisis intervention specialists as a few elements that helped with the decline. He pointed out that they have received help from D.C.’s mayor and police.
Clarke said the Council has a role to play to continue with the downward trend for crime.
“We very much appreciate their consideration of the Secure DC bill,” he said. “There is a piece in there related to fare evasion ID-that we definitely need.”
As crime trends down, Clarke hopes fear trends down with it.
Clarke said, “We have to work on perception, and the better we are with reality, the perception follows."