For at least the past four years, Washington, D.C., police chiefs and the mayor have blamed rising crime rates, in part, on a deficit of front-line police officers. A study published by the city’s independent auditor this month reopened a debate about what it takes to police the city, concluding that the number of officers patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital is sufficient. Heralded as proof of the group’s conclusions that a smaller force and a stronger focus on root causes of violence would help D.C. reduce crime, it remains unclear what will come of the 18-month analysis. While police have agreed with certain conclusions, including a goal to hire more civilians to free up sworn personnel and to track more closely how the department deploys officers and overtime, the assessment of staffing needs elicited a swift rebuke, then silence from key decision-makers.
The police department, which last year confronted a violent crime spike as staffing dropped to its lowest levels in a half-century, dismissed the finding as “at odds with reality” and out of step with community demands. Officials said D.C. is unique in needing a large police force because a disproportionate amount of resources is taken by helping federal agencies and at daily demonstrations and other initiatives. Christy Lopez, who co-chaired D.C.’s policing commission after George Floyd’s killing, said the audit "reveals the lie behind that whole argument." An emphasis on hitting a 4,000-officer benchmark “keeps us from investing in resources” that could lead to alternatives in policing and forces officials confronted with crime spikes to reactively “shift back to more police, more police,” she said. D.C. ranks in the top tier of major U.S. cities with the highest number of police officers per capita, a number that excludes the thousands of law enforcement officers who work for federal agencies or other departments. The D.C. police department had at least 3,800 officers from 2004 through 2020, reaching the 4,000 mark three times. That number fell beginning in 2021, and reached 3,286 through the end of August this year.. The audit was conducted over 18 months by a team that included experts who have evaluated police staffing in several cities, and former police executives from Baltimore, New Orleans and Nashville.