Crime Increase In Washington

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32210, 31 January 1970, Page 17

Crime Increase In Washington

(By LOUIS KEREN, of “The Times.” through N.Z.P.AJ WASHINGTON. This national capital of the United States is now a more dangerous city to live in than New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.

President Nixon has announced the establishment of a special police force to protect foreign embassies. The F. 8.1. has reported that the crime rate is the worst ever. The city’s population is only 763,000, but 292 murders were reported last year. To put it another way, one out of every 2613 citizens was murdered. Armed robbery, rape, burglaries, and larceny also increased alarmingly. Only car thefts declined, presumably because of widespread affluence.

Bus drivers, of course, gave up changing money long ago because of frequent holdups. Travellers must have the correct change, 32c, which is dropped into a robbery-proof container bolted to the floor, or accept scrip. The schools are no longer safe. On January 5 one stud|ent, aged 15, was shot to

death by a classmate; another, aged 14, was wounded in an accidental shooting; a third reported being shot at the playground; and a fourth was arrested for carrying a pistol. Nevertheless, Washington is still the pleasant city which Henry James knew as an appreciative visitor after his expatriate years. The trees, azaleas and other flowering shrubs, are as lovely as ever, and the company most civilised. A Delight Georgetown, the original colonial city, is a delight with its many federalist house fronts and redbrick pavements. Neighbourhoods, such as Cleveland Park, Wesley Heights, and Spring Valley, are also attractive, especially on a summer’s evening with children playing on the unfenced front lawns and the laughter of people swimming in private pools at the back. They enjoy the good life with reasonable safety. All one needs is at least $20,000 a year—s3o,ooo would be preferable—and a sure instinct not to move beyond what are sometimes described as the white highlands after dark. The safety danger line, depending on which side you live, is a colour line. Negroes are the main perpetrators and victims of drime. and the vast majority live in one area. The newcomer has only to understand that to venture east of 16th Street, NorthWest at night would be foolhardy, and to loiter near the Capitol unthinkable after dark.

Many white Washingtonians feel a twinge of apprehension when they meet a Negro at night, even in a secure neighbourhood. This is after all a'free country, and there is no pass system, but the frightened can, and do, buy guns. One lawyer, a pillar of the Republican Party, has three and is thinking of buying a fourth. Private vigilantes are retained to patrol some neighbourhoods. Hired Bullis I have alihost given up walking the dog at night because of their surveillance, but there can be little difference between life in Washington and how I suppose it was lived in medieval cities. The vigilantes can be compared to hired bullies and the poor unfortunate blacks to the old mobs. There is no reason to believe that our rich ancestors did not live well, and In Washington the reasonably well-to-do have air conditioning, private pools and clubs. They have no need to leave the white highlands because the better shops have branches in safe areas. There are seven television channels many in colour, and even first-run films are shown in local cinemas. There is much entertaining at home, and the conversation is generally of a high order if one is interested in politics. Some wives may object, but in a town where politicians and senior civil servants are the arbiters of taste most remain discreetly silent. I can think of one more reason for living here. The National Commisison on the causes and Prevention of Violence predicted, after looking back to medieval times, that most American cities will soon be like Washington unless the condition of the Negro is improved. This will not happen for many years, and this city might therefore be seen as an example of what urban life is to become.