Chinatown residents, businesses want crime addressed

Crime is on the minds of residents and businesses in D.C.’s Chinatown, and they are calling on soon-to-be-elected officials at the local and federal levels to bring changes that will address it.

Districtwide, crime rates have decreased in recent years, but those in Chinatown say they have not seen this decline – and that they have seen in increase in crime committed by young people in the area.

The Chinatown crime rate is 49% higher than the D.C. average, according to DoorProfit, a neighborhood safety and crime data platform that aggregates crime data from US law enforcement agencies. In addition, it is 54% above the national level, DoorProfit reported.

“I no longer take the Metro anymore,” said Mahnoor Sufi, an employee at Arc’teryx. “I almost got stabbed by a kid. [He] stood over me, didn’t ask for anything, and this was 9:00 a.m.”

According to data from the Metropolitan Police Department obtained in October by WJLA 7News, large groups of teenagers and juveniles have been involved in robberies, harassments, stabbings, and fights on Seventh Street NW.

Christian Molina, an employee at Rosa’s Diner on K Street NW, has seen a lot of the crime in the area outside of the diner, and said that the government is not solving the real issue.

Molina said he hopes the federal government would provide more funding.

“Instead of funding most of our money to overseas, you may have to put more of that money funding toward our communities,” Molina said.

The community as a whole needs a little bit of help, said Christina, a security guard at the building that used to house the department store, Woodward and Lothrop.

Since she has worked at the building, she has seen numerous crimes outside of the building that are mainly being committed by young people.

“Everybody knows somebody that’s passed,” said Sufi. “You have kids getting murdered every day now; there was literally a shooting on Minnesota Avenue a few mornings ago.”

Sufi said she hopes for more programs for kids to stay out of criminal activity.

“I’m a commuter, and I want the community to be safter. I hope there are more programs kids and hopefully increasing those budgets so that kids stay out of the way,” Sufi said.

Residents and business owners hope that these issues can be solved permanently instead of just temporarily.

“You’re just putting a band aid on the wound, you’re not fixing it,” said Molina. “That’s just the common occurrence of the D.C. area.”

It’s not just crime, though, that are motivating those in the area.

D.C. resident Chastity Lord said the significant issue that affects everyone is inflation and the cost of basic needs.

“When you’re thinking about the basic needs, the cost of gas, food, utilities, their up 30 percent,” said Lord. “I think there is an opportunity to first and foremost, acknowledge we all wanted something different.”

“I think it creates an opportunity for us to not just vote for but also get behind and support through the rainy season as much as we walk toward the sun.”