For the second quarter in a row, D.C.’s U.S. attorney is charging a higher percentage of people who are arrested for crimes in the District.
Prosecutors charged 55% of suspects arrested between October through December 2023, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Thursday. Another 4% were referred to other agencies for prosecution. It is a 2% increase over the three months before.
For years, the so-called “no paper rate” steadily climbed. It’s the rate at which arrests by D.C. police are not prosecuted in court. In fiscal year 2022 (ending Sept. 30, 2022), two of every three criminal arrests in D.C. were not prosecuted – 67%. In fiscal year 2023 (ending Sept. 30, 2023), that rate dropped to 56%.
D.C. U.S. Attorney Matt Graves told reporters Thursday the increase is due in part to better evidence collection by D.C. police and D.C.’s Department of Forensic Sciences crime lab coming back online. D.C. can now test its own drug and DNA evidence, which helps bring cases faster.
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The announcement comes as D.C.’s crime rate is coming down from alarming levels. This year, D.C. police report homicide is down 36% and overall violent crime is down 15% as of March 14.
Graves said the drop is not due to more prosecutions insisting, “We've always been charging violent criminals. You can look at any point in time, and roughly 90% of our most serious violent criminals are charged at the time of arrest."
According to the release from Graves’ office, “Nearly 90% of violent gun offenses are charged at the time of arrest; the remainder are subject to additional investigation.”
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Graves said his focus on proactively investigating a relatively small number of people driving a large percentage of violent crime, holding gun criminals in custody before trial and making sure there are “swift and certain consequences” for violent crime in D.C. is driving gun violence down.
D.C., Graves said, is on “the same trend line as other cities.” But he suggested the District is six to 12 months behind falling crime rates across the country. Graves blamed that on the crime lab closure and lingering COVID-era restrictions at D.C.’s Superior Court.
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