Washington, D.C. residents in the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods say they haven’t felt the effects of President Donald Trump’s war on crime.

On Monday, the president announced a series of actions his administration would be taking to reduce crime in the nation’s capital. In addition to placing the local police force under the control of the federal government, Trump also said he’d deploy the National Guard. In the days since that announcement, federal officers have been seen roaming the streets, and armored vehicles have even been spotted around the National Mall and Union Station.

While the city’s most notable landmarks have seen an increase presence of law enforcement, the same cannot be said for sections of the city that could use it. According to a report from USA Today’s Josh Meyer, a number of D.C.’s most crime-ridden areas — including the notorious Ward 8 — have yet to see the same show of force seen in and around the National Mall:

“He probably doesn’t even know where Anacostia is,” Charles Wilson, whose neighborhood has one of DC’s highest rates of murder and violent crime. Wilson says the low-income area in DC’s Ward 8 has endured several shootouts in which bullets struck houses, cars and even lodged in children’s bedrooms in recent years.

“I think this is all pomp and circumstance,” Wilson says, “to distract people from everything else he is doing.”

Although data has indicated that crime in the city overall has been on the decline, Meyer noted that Ward 8’s rate of violent crime remains twice as high as any other ward in D.C. Residents said they would actually welcome the presence of more police in these areas:

Darrell Gaston, the chef and founder of nearby Kitchen Savages, showed USA TODAY the front windows of his upscale restaurant that he had to replace after they were shattered by a recent gun battle between the occupants of two cars. The wild shootout sent a street light careening into the eatery.

Gaston, a four-term Advisory Neighborhood Commission member, said he’d seen some evidence of an uptick in security, including a few Guard troops and federal agents a block away. What he’d like to see instead, Gaston said, was more DC police officers “who specialize in community engagement and in protecting communities, which hopefully does lead to a decrease in crime.”

— —

The post DC Residents Say Trump’s Neglecting Most Dangerous Neighborhoods Amid Crime Crackdown: Report first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/TVs3qBH