WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier on Monday defended policing tactics in the wake of an April spike in homicides, noting that violent crime overall remains down compared to last year.

Northeast Washington has been struck by a spate of shootings and homicides in spite of an increased police presence in the neighborhoods hardest hit by the violence.

Police have doubled the number of patrols and called in drug, gun and auto theft units, Lanier said.

“Violent crime is occurring in small pockets, and we need to be aggressive in those pockets,” Lanier said.

But police officers and union officials have maintained that Lanier’s tactics, including All Hands on Deck initiatives like one planned for the weekend, are sapping the department’s vitality.

A group of officers in the 5th District filed a grievance over the weekend to complain about the long hours.

Lanier deflected criticism by the police union that officers had to work 13 days in a row. “We’re using everything we have in our toolbox,” Lanier said. 

The chief refused to discuss details of the weekend crime spree because the investigations are ongoing and police are still trying to get a handle on it. But she pointed out that the violence erupted shortly after a major drug bust in early April.

Since March 18, there have been 72 arrests for drug distribution in the 5th  District, up from 10 over the same period last year.

Violent crime is down 3 percent in the city this year to date, and there are two fewer murders, Fenty said. Sixty-five percent of homicides have been closed, up from this time last year at  when only 35 percent of murders had been solved. Police have recovered 312 guns in four months, about a 100 more than last year.

“We’re at a really good point” for turning the crime spike around, Fenty said.

smccabe@dcexaminer.com