The D.C. Superior Court will double the size of its Saturday shift in anticipation of Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s weekend crackdown on crime.

Lanier will launch her “All Hands on Deck” initiative today to combat the violence and crime that rise with the summer temperatures.

To jump-start her program, all 3,800 uniformed officers will work an extra eight hours this weekend to increase the visibility of the force. Police will be patrolling by foot, scooter, Segway, motorcycle and police cruiser. Others will be assigned specific tasks.

Police sources said that they will be stopping motorists for minor offenses, checking for vehicles for contraband and running criminal background checks. The department also is installing five new surveillance cameras, bringing to 24 the number of cameras placed around the District.

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Leah Gurowitz, spokesperson for the D.C. Superior Court, said the courthouse will have an extra judge and staff in preparation for the additional cases it expects to arraign this weekend.

Lanier expects to announce the details of her plan this morning. Her initiative comes a week after the District saw four homicides, including the shooting death of 13-year-old Terry Cutchin in Columbia Heights.

First-year Chief Lanier has vowed to make the police force more proactive, and her goal has been to cut crime without resorting to the costly emergency declarations used by her predecessor.

Last year, after the District suffered 13 murders in 11 days, then-Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared an emergency that allowed him to force his officers to work six-day weeks over several months.

Crime fell, but the overtime payments cost the city an extra $14.5 million and put a strain on the police force.

smccabe@examiner.com