Washington, D.C., on edge as toll from deadly summer of gun violence mounts

"Be calm and trust God," reads the sign outside St. Luke Catholic Church. Last Tuesday, the place of worship in the Benning Ridge neighbourhood in Washington, D.C., was anything but calm — it was a murder scene.

A few minutes past noon, 21-year-old Amari Jenkins was gunned down near the steps, a few feet away from a white statue of Jesus, whose outstretched arms have no hands. They were cut off in an act of vandalism years ago and never replaced.

Jenkins was shot multiple times by a gunman who fled in a blue minivan.

Evidently not even church grounds, in broad daylight, are off limits for shootouts in D.C. these days. The murder rate is quickly rising in the U.S. capital, innocent bystanders are getting shot and residents and police are trying to understand what's behind the surge and how to stop it so that the city doesn't return to the days when it was known as the nation's "murder capital."

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The day after the shooting at St. Luke's, there was little to indicate a young man had lost his life there, except for a few candles by the steps and a strip of yellow police tape at the back of the building. Detectives had come and gone, on to the next case.

There were two other homicides on the day Jenkins died that they had to investigate and there have been several more since. As of Aug. 28, the toll had reached 103 murders. That's up 43 per cent compared to this time last year and it means D.C. is set to surpass last year's total number of homicides — 105 — in a matter of days or weeks.

The summer has been particularly deadly, with at least 30 of the slayings happening in the last two months.

Police chief under fire

It's not just the murder rate that's spiking. Robberies and assaults committed with guns are both up as well. In one armed robbery case the suspect is described as 10 years old.

Several major U.S. cities are experiencing a surge in homicides compared to last year. Baltimore has already surpassed its 2014 total of 211 murders. Chicago, Milwaukee and New York are all seeing an increase. St. Louis's murder rate is up 60 per cent.

In Washington, the crime surge has put residents on edge and put the mayor and police chief on the hot seat. They are making efforts to stop the escalating violence, but they are still coming under fire — and some of the criticism is from the city's own police officers.

Gregg Pemberton, treasurer for the police union, said policy changes implemented by Chief Cathy Lanier have created a "vacuum of enforcement" in the city of 658,800 residents.

Criminals are acting more brazen and "pushing the envelope," Pemberton said in an interview close to the spot where an innocent man was caught in crossfire on a Saturday afternoon in D.C.'s Shaw neighbourhood.

Matthew Shlonsky, 23, a recent college graduate and former Capitol Hill intern, was on his way to meet friends when gunfire broke out on a busy street, just outside a subway station. He was struck by a bullet meant for someone else, and died.

A combination of factors is contributing to the current wave of violence, said Pemberton, but a key problem is that there is less proactive policing than there was before. A lack of manpower, due to retirements and unhappy officers leaving for other forces, and a high volume of calls means officers are often spending their shifts running from one call to another, he said.

The other big problem, according to the union, is that criminals are taking advantage of Lanier's decision to disband local vice units.

Union wants vice units back

Earlier this year, officers who had been dedicated to investigating illegal drugs in certain neighbourhoods, for example, were instead centralized and tasked with handling larger-scale narcotics organizations. Others were assigned back to regular patrol beats.

Residents have been demanding answers for the rise in violence and Lanier has offered an increase in synthetic drugs, an increase in guns and disputes over gambling as explanations.

"Those are all vices and that's what the vice unit is for," said Pemberton. The union suggests it is no coincidence that violent crime has gone up since the units were disbanded.

They are calling for them to be reinstated immediately, at least for 90 days, to help tackle this summer's violence.

Pemberton said it would help send a message to criminals that they can't operate carte blanche. "Then maybe we can set the tone that we're not going to put up with this," he said.

Lanier has defended her decision to scrap the local vice units, saying they were no longer effective for today's drug crime environment. She's attended news conferences and community meetings, some heated, to keep residents informed about arrests, crimes and what the force is doing to stop them.

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a new set of measures at an event on Aug. 27 worth $15 million. She was interrupted several times by people in the crowd shouting, "No justice, no peace." Some were from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Bowser said the city has already put more officers on the streets, and they are working more overtime, particularly in neighbourhoods hard hit by violence. She pledged funding to retain officers and to attract new recruits. Money will also go to community groups, employment and other social services and to businesses and other property owners to install security cameras. She also proposed reforms to penalties for certain crimes. 

A 'lost generation' on D.C. streets

Another strategy the police department is using is a pop-up community outreach tent in Shaw, where Shlonsky was killed, and where another innocent bystander, Tamara Gliss, was shot dead in May.

The tent, manned by officers around the clock, is at the site where Gliss, a 31-year-old mother, was hit by a stray bullet. A small memorial with candles, stuffed animals and a photo of Gliss with "RIP Yamz," her nickname, below it, still marks the spot where she died.

"She was an outgoing young lady, she cared about people," Gliss's pastor Melvin Brown said in an interview at his church. Brown has known the Gliss family for years and has lived in D.C. since 1985, when a crack epidemic was plaguing the city and when crime rates were soaring.

This summer's violence is noteworthy, but crime used to be much worse in this city. Back in 1996, there were 397 homicides. Brown said he hopes D.C. is not slipping back to when it was known as the country's "murder capital."

"I'm praying that it does not," said Brown, who presided over Gliss's funeral. Her 12-year-old son sings in the church's youth choir.

With innocent people getting killed on D.C.'s streets, some residents are worried about their safety.

Praying to get home safely

"I just come to work and pray that I get home safely at the end of the day," said Daphne Simpson, outside the grocery store where she works in Shaw.

With her was Bradford Holt, who said the mayor and the chief can try anything they want, but it won't make a difference. "People got to help themselves," he said. A lot of young people are committing crimes because they are hopeless and just don't care about the consequences, said Holt.

"They don't have nothing else to lose. They'd rather spend the rest of their life in jail because there's nothing for them on the street," he said.

"It's a lost generation out here."