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The August 9th PSA 305 meeting highlighted ongoing efforts to improve safety in our neighborhood.  Go to read more for the notes from the PSA meeting.

The U Street Neighborhood Association Public Safety Committee provides summaries of the monthly PSA 305 meetings.  We welcome feedback/questions/concerns regarding our summaries and other U Street Neighborhood Association public safety issues.  Please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

The PSA 305 meeting on August 9th, 2011 was attended by representatives from several city agencies and community groups including:

· MPD: Lt. Jova (202-671-7357, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ), Officer Garrett Higgins ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ), Officer Michael Crutchman ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), Lt. Carroll (PSA 308), and Sgt. Jackson were present.

· U.S. Attorney’s Office: no representation

· CSOSA: no representation

· Howard University Police: two officers were present.

· ANC 1B: no representation

· Mayor's Office of Community Relations and Services: no representation

· Councilmember Graham's Office: Calvin Woodland

· Councilmember Wells' Office: Naomi Mitchell

· LeDroit Park Civic Association: Jana Baldwin

· Westminster Neighborhood Association: residents were in attendance

· U Street Neighborhood Association: Sushupta Sudarshan & Brian Card

· Nightlife Association – Skip Coburn

Summary PSA 305 Meeting

August 9, 2011

The PSA 305 meeting on August 9th, 2011 discussed current local crime, and follow-on actions from previous meetings:

· Lt. Jova reported that crime has decreased overall with increases in burglary, theft, and theft of bikes.

· Burglaries are occurring mostly in the mid-morning, although there was an incident on 1900 11^th St in which the house was broken into with the residents sleeping. In that incident the owners had not activated their alarm.  Residents are encouraged to use their alarm systems.

· There was an arrest made for an August 5^th robbery that occurred at the 1400 block of Florida Ave.

· Many of the thefts that are occurring are happening in restaurants where purses, or wallets inside purses are being stolen.  Residents are encouraged to be careful with their purses in public.

· CM Graham’s office representative Calvin Woodland discussed the effort that CM Graham’s office, CM Wells office, and PSA 308 have been engaged in to improve safety in some of the large housing projects where there have been crime issues. A meeting was held last week with John Detaeye (CM Graham’s office); Naomi Mitchell (CM Wells office); ANC Alex Padro, and Lincoln Westmoreland 2. At this meeting they discussed strategies to coordinate among the housing projects in a manner similar to “Safe Passages” a program that was down in Columbia Heights. Another meeting will be occurring with more housing projects in attendance. At a later point they will include neighborhood folks in these meetings.

· Two representatives from Lincoln Westmoreland 2, Carmen Guthrie, Community Manager of Lincoln Westmoreland 2, and Sonya Clayton, Regional Property Manager, addressed the residents at the meeting. Lincoln Westmoreland 2 is the Section 8 garden apartments (not the high rise which is Lincoln Westmoreland 1) near 8 & S Street NW.  They discussed the measures that they are using for public safety including cameras on site (monitored offsite); screening/removal of residents for felonies (gun/drug); and use of barring notices for non-residents that are problematic. They also mentioned that they had a large drug raid recently and are in the process of removing the residents involved. They attributed many of the issues near them to non-residents who hang out near Lincoln Westmoreland 2, but on the public spaces. Lincoln Westmoreland 2 is broken up by 8^th St and is separated from Lincoln Westmoreland 1 by a public alley. They noted that residents are afraid of being labeled as a “snitch”, preventing them from pushing for better safety. They said they have also been having problems with their security gate being broken about once a month, requiring thousands of dollars to replace each time.

· Lt. Jova reminded residents that he has assigned Officer Higgins as the community liaison for PSA 305 East (LeDroit Park) and Officer Crutchman for PSA 305 West, and encouraged residents to followup with them.

· An update on the 1900 block of 9th St Reimbursable Detail effort was provided by Calvin Woodland (CM Graham’s office) & Skip Coburn (D.C. Nightlife Association). A group of establishments has been contacted about participating in a reimbursable effort and expressed willingness, including: 901 Restaurant; Ambassador Bar & Restaurant; Asefu’s Restaurant & Bar; Axum Restaurant; DC9; Dickson Wine Bar; Dodge City; Etete; Ghion Restaurant; Little Ethiopia Restaurant; Martin’s Lounge; Nellies Sports Bar; Portico Restaurant; Queen Makeda Ehtiopian Restaurant; Salina Restaurant; Shashemene Restaurant; Velvet Lounge; and Zula Restaurant & Bar. Skip & John Detaye are working to get these businesses to participate in the Reimbursable Detail. Some hurdles they are working to overcome include the ABRA cost share of the Reimbursable Detail; how to proportionately split the costs among businesses; reluctance to pay for MPD when they are already paying taxes; and other concerns about how the reimbursable service works.

· Howard University reported that they students will be returning back to campus August 12-15^th.

· Lt. Jova announced the upcoming PSA 305 Walk-Thru with DC Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, Paul Quander on August 10, 2011.

· The following is a summary of reported crimes for the month of July 2011: