WASHINGTON (AP) — Though it’s no longer the homicide capital of the United States, the nation’s capital is witnessing a multiyear spike in the number of homicides but solving far fewer of them.

And for families of the victims, the issue of unsolved killings cuts deep.

Asiyah Timimi’s husband, Aqueel, was stabbed in a dispute in January 2021 and died several days later. “You just don’t feel safe until they’re caught,” Timimi said. “I could be walking past the person that killed my husband.”

Natalia Mitchell wants justice for her son Morris, who was fatally shot in March 2022, and closure for herself. A successful arrest of her son’s killer, she said, “doesn’t bring Morris back, but it would help.”

The percentage of homicides that are solved by the Metropolitan Police Department has declined sharply in 2023, leaving the city on track to record its lowest so-called “clearance rate” or “closure rate” in more than 15 years.

As of Nov. 13, only 75 of the 244 homicides committed this year have been solved by police. Factoring in the 33 prior-year homicides cleared thus far in 2023, the overall closure rate stands at around 45%. That would be the lowest rate dating back at least to 2007, according to statistics provided by the MPD.

Nationally, the average clearance rate tends to hover between 50% and 60%, said Rick Rosenfeld, a professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

A low closure rate, particularly on homicides, can erode police morale and community trust in the police and lessen the public cooperation between citizens and police that is vital for many investigations, said Christopher Herrmann, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former crime analyst supervisor with the New York Police Department.

“That whole process can kind of spiral down, where the community doesn’t trust the police that much anymore or there’s a lack of faith,” he said. “There’s much less cooperation between the community and the police. And once the police see a lack of cooperation from the community, some of them will kind of throw their hands up in the air and say, ‘Why should we care when no one in the community wants to help?’”

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Lyndsey Appiah acknowledged that closure represents “some sense of justice for victims.”

In addition, she said, “The surety of consequence is a deterrent to crime. So it’s important that we are, as quickly as possible, closing cases and solving cases.”

The drop in homicide closures is just part of a complicated public safety crisis facing the nation’s capital. Appiah, in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee this year, flatly acknowledged the scope of the problem.

“Oxford defines a crisis as a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger,” she testified. “So I would say there is a crisis.”

Homicides in Washington are up 33% this year over last year. Violent crimes involving juveniles also are rising steadily, as are carjackings, with a U.S. congressman and a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates among the recent victims.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Appiah cited police staffing issues and difficulties with crime scene analysis among the potential factors impacting the clearance rate.

It’s at around 3,300 officers this year — down from 3,800 in 2020.

The MPD is at around 3,300 officers this year, down from 3,800 officers since 2020 — a decrease of 500 over three years. Police union officials have publicly blamed the D.C. Council for what they say are anti-police policies that have driven away officers and stifled recruiting efforts. The mayor, however, wants to get the number of officers up to 4,000.

D.C.’s crime lab, the Department of Forensic Science, also lost its accreditation in spring 2021 over allegations of flaws in its analysis. Appiah said the lab hopes to regain its accreditation early next year; in the meantime, the city is outsourcing its crime scene analysis, a process that consumes time and money, she said.

Appiah said that 10 months into the year is too soon to judge the success of homicide investigations that can take months or years. And, in fairness, the MPD just arrested a man in late October for a killing that took place in 2009. In cases like that, the arrest counts as part of this year’s clearance rate.

But with just a few weeks left in the year, it would take a remarkable run of successful arrests to prevent 2023 from having the lowest homicide clearance rate in more than 15 years.

The impact of these unsolved killings can have a corrosive effect in multiple directions.

“It devastates the Black family, and it can devastate the police department,” said Ronald Moten, a community activist who, in his youth, spent time in federal prison on drug charges. “It always gives the family some sense of relief if there’s a closure. It doesn’t help you heal by itself, but it’s part of the healing process.”

Moten’s half-brother was slain in 1991, during the period when homicides in D.C. regularly exceeded 400 per year. The case was never solved.

“It hurts because you feel like somebody’s gotten away with killing your child with no consequences,” Moten said. “That’s painful. You want closure, and you want somebody to be held accountable.”

Preventing that negative cycle from becoming entrenched is one of the city’s top priorities. To close cases, police need residents to help uproot violent criminals from their communities, said Appiah, the deputy mayor.

“We need their help. And they need to trust that if they come forward with information and help us, that it will move towards accountability,” she said. “If they provide us tips on someone engaged in a shooting and then that person is just back in the community, they will not trust MPD in the same way. … We need the community to help us close cases, and then we need the rest of the system to work to help keep them safe.”

Timimi, whose son Khalil was shot outside of Washington in neighboring Prince Georges County in Maryland about six weeks after her husband was stabbed, now cares for her paralyzed son and runs a charitable organization teaching modern life skills to urban youths.

She said she fears a return to the days when Washington routinely led the nation in per-capita killings. Two of her former neighbors have lost children to gun violence in recent years, and in 2021 her godson was caught in a crossfire and killed while he was home from college because of the national COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

“In the ’80s and ’90s, I remember going to a funeral every week,” she said. “And when it’s unsolved, you just feel like they’ve forgotten you.”

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RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Riverside County health officials this weekend reported a large spike in COVID-19 cases, with an additional 134 cases and one new death.

The county’s overall toll is now at 799 cases and 19 deaths.

Sunday’s jump in cases amounts to a 20% increase over the previous day’s numbers. Health officials said the number of people who have recovered from the virus remained unchanged since Saturday at 60.

“Anytime we lose one of our county residents it is painful; it is a tragedy. All of these individuals had families, had loved ones and friends who are grieving,” Riverside County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said during a video briefing Saturday afternoon.

Later Saturday, Riverside County’s Health Officer, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, issued an order banning all public gatherings, with the exception of those occurring in essential businesses, and mandating that residents wear a face covering when leaving home.

“We absolutely need everyone to do their part: to stay inside, stay in place, maintain your space and cover your face,” Federico said.

The county saw a 30% jump in cases between Thursday’s and Friday’s numbers, which was the largest one-day increase since the first case was reported in Riverside County on March 8.
“We’ve heard that California COVID-19 cases may be slowing down, but that is not what we are seeing in Riverside County,” Dr. Geoffrey Leung of the Riverside University Health System said Friday. “Our cases continue to rise exponentially, and we have very little time to turn this around.”

Leung said the county remains on track to see 65,000 cases, 11,000 hospitalizations and 1,000 deaths by the beginning of May. He said that number of hospitalizations would be three to four times the capacity of the county’s hospital system.

In addition to staying home and hand washing, Leung shared four other solutions he said could help Riverside County flatten the curve: testing, enforcement, face covering and closing all nonessential businesses and gathering places.

“If we can do one of these things well … we believe we can decrease the number of cases and deaths by 50%. If we can do three of these things well, we believe we can decrease the hospitalizations, the cases and the deaths by 75%, saving nearly 700 or 800 lives or more,” Leung said, “but we have to do them well, and we have to do them now.”

More than 5,000 Riverside County residents have been tested for the virus as of numbers available Thursday. The local mortality rate remains slightly over 1%, according to officials.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on Friday reported that a second deputy died due to the coronavirus. Sheriff Chad Bianco said David Werksman, 51, most likely contracted the disease while attending his mother’s funeral and not while on the job.

The 22-year veteran of the sheriff’s department was assigned to the Public Records Unit and is survived by his wife and three children. Werksman died Thursday, hours after another career lawman, Terrell Young, succumbed to viral complications, according to the sheriff’s department.

Young had been with the sheriff’s department since December 2005 and was most recently assigned to the Cois Byrd Detention Center. He is survived by his wife and four children.

Bianco also confirmed that 26 sheriff’s employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while 13 inmates have been verified as infected. Two employees have been hospitalized, he said.
Kaiser announced last week that all schools will remain shuttered until June 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic, effectively closing schools — from elementary schools to universities — through the end of the academic school year. It remains unclear whether individual school districts will adjust their schedules in the future.

Kaiser also ordered all golf courses in Riverside County to shut down immediately, both public and private, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Drive-thru coronavirus testing is also available in the parking lot at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio, also by appointment only, open Tuesday through Saturday.

The testing site is on the same property as a temporary 125-bed field hospital is staffed and ready to begin taking patients, although county officials have not said when those patients would arrive.

Officials want temporary hospitals set up to be treating non- critically ill patients — including those being treated for illnesses other than coronavirus — before the anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases hits.

Another 125-bed temporary hospital is slated to be set up in western Riverside County, but that location has not yet been identified.

An additional COVID-19 screening location is situated at Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore, where appointment-only patients can get drive-thru service between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Sundays to Thursdays. Anyone who lives within a 50-mile radius of the Riverside metropolitan area can access the site.

People who want to get tested must call 800-945-6171 to be screened for specific symptoms. Appointments for the Lake Elsinore site can also be made online at www.projectbaseline.com/study/covid-19.

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RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Riverside County health officials report another 11 cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the county’s total to 59, with the death toll unchanged at six.

Six of the new cases come from the northwestern pocket of the county, three were reported in the Coachella Valley, and two in the county’s southwestern region, according to Jose Arballo, spokesman for the Riverside University Health System.

The county’s COVID-19 case map shows the Coachella Valley with the highest count of prior or ongoing infection at 28, where all countywide deaths have been reported. The northwestern county now stands at 19 cases, the southwest region at 10 and the mid-county with one.

Another resident who acquired the virus while traveling aboard a cruise ship remains in Northern California, officials said. Out of the 59 total cases, 24 were determined to have been acquired locally, four were travel-associated and 31 are under investigation to verify
origin.

Cities across Riverside County have implemented local emergency measures synthesized with the county’s requirements and recommendations from the California Department of Public Health. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked for seniors and people in compromised health to self-isolate at home wherever possible to reduce exposure risks. The governor also asked for bars, wineries and night clubs to reduce services. There was no formal order associated with the announcement, only voluntary action.

However, the governor followed the request with an executive order Thursday advising that all individuals who are not involved in essential services to stay home whenever possible.

In the Coachella Valley, where the county’s first infections were reported, most local cities have closed public buildings, canceled events or taken measures more aggressive then county or state mandates.

Palm Springs officials on Tuesday ordered the immediate closure of all golf courses, trails and public parks within city limits. And new restrictions went into effect in Palm Springs barring all vacation rentals or hotel stays, unless they are related to COVID-19 response efforts. Violators can be fined $5,000 for their first offense, $10,000 for their second and
$25,000 for their third, the order reads.

Rancho Mirage city officials on Monday issued a similar order that also barred temporary rentals, which is set to remain in effect until June 1 unless amended earlier.

Casinos and entertainment venues countywide also remain shuttered.

Frequent hand washing, social distancing and basic hygiene were emphasized as good precautionary practices against viral infection.

COVID-19 symptoms are comparable to the flu and include fever, coughing and respiratory distress. A person usually develops the symptoms within two weeks of exposure, according to the CDC.

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