WASHINGTON (Map, News) - To combat the street gangs warring in Shaw, 3rd District police are going back to basics: Foot patrols are visiting with 10 residents a day, officers are taking names of suspicious people, and roll calls are being held outdoors as a show of force.

On Friday afternoon, a dozen D.C. police officers formed a blue line on the corner of O Street and 7th Street Northwest, between two large, boxy public-housing apartments. Stern faces peered down from the windows.

Lt. Ralph Neal addressed the officers about the challenges before them. Earlier in the week, two young males, ages 16 and 21, were critically wounded in a hail of gunfire in an alley a block away. There 18 crews in the 3rd Police District, from Adams Morgan to Columbia Heights to lower Georgia Avenue, and there were more than 100 gunshots and 11 victims in the district during October and November.

“If they’re breaking the law, lock their butts up,” Neal said. “We’ve got to get control of this area.”

Neal is concentrating on disputes between crews in the seven-block neighborhood just north of the convention center. Gang members are attacked if they’re spotted in rivals’ territory, Neal said. The members can’t travel outside their neighborhood because gangs on all sides box them in.

“It’s sad. It’s about territory. It’s, ‘This is my turf; this is your turf,’” Neal said. “But it’s nobody’s turf. This is the District of Columbia.”

He said the officers have to be careful about violating residents’ civil rights. But if people are hanging out in a high-crime area known for drugs and violence, police have a right to ask questions.

A night earlier, police recovered a handgun after they approached a group of males in the 800 block of 0 Street.

The young men scattered but left a .40-caliber handgun hidden inside the wheel well of a car.

Officers have also been instructed to stop people who are acting suspiciously and enter their names through computer records to check for warrants.

“It’s one thing to know that gangs are beefing,” Neal said, “but we have to know who the players are.”

Resident Tony Jones said he was glad to see the officers hold their roll call in the neighborhood.

“I think it’s great,” Jones said. “I’m all for any thing to deter crime here.”

smccabe@dcexaminer.com