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We're preparing for a move to DC and I'm wondering exactly what type of crime people are talking about in DC. Violent crime? muggings? car break-ins? What do you deal with on a daily basis? What kind of precautions do you personally take? I've only been to visit thus far and honestly haven't seen anything that bad. What am I missing?
We've lived in bad neighborhoods before, so we're not too squeamish. On the other hand, we'd like to know what we're getting ourselves into.
It depends on where exactly you are, but from what I've seen the most prevalent tends to be property crime (burglary, car break-in, etc.). In certain areas there's a definite threat of a more violent crime, but if you avoid them it's not too bad.
As far as precautions, in general I just be as aware as possible when walking around. Regarding my car, I don't leave anything on the seats that could be enticing, lock the doors, and generally use a wheel lock (purchased by my parents when I lived in Philadelphia). If I go out at night to a bar or something I try and take as little as possible with me, more for convenience, but also so there's not much to take from me if something does happen. If you've lived in bad (or even just not-quite-so-good) areas before, you should be fine.
From there you can see that it's mostly property crime, i.e. theft, break-ins, etc. Obviously it also varies by neighborhood. NW is pretty low on violent crime, parts of SE are generally the worst.
Crime--- some people grew up in areas where throwing eggs on a car was a massive event. DC has some bad crime but most of it
1.drug related
2. by people who knew the victim personally
3. unfortunately black on black in most cases
4. in tough neighborhoods where economic progress hasn't hit..
You will be fine just use big city common sense...no cc's or debit cards in wallet, carry low amts of cash, walk in crowded well lit areas. Get alarm/bar for your car, don't leave gps units on the glass and try to never walk alone late at night especially near entertainment hubs/districts where fools are waiting to rob drunk people.
I've never had one problem within dc proper and I've been all over the city including SE/NE/and SW...people left me alone and I the same...
DC once had a well-deserved reputation as a crime capital, but those days are now long gone. We do still have a higher than average violent crime rate (murder, rape, assault), mostly (as noted above) as the result of the drug trade and the fact that there are some neighborhoods and areas that have simply been left behind in the now roughly 20-year process of finally recovering from the social and economic devastation of the 1968 riots. If you look beyond those numbers though, you'll find that levels of non-violent crime (burglary, larceny, auto theft) have dropped so far that DC's overall crime rates are on a par with places like Omaha and Austin, meaning that we are about in the middle of the pack among the nation's 100 largest cities (200K+).
Speaking personally, I'm in the city every day and many nights, and I basically don't give crime a second thought. Of course, I don't often go up to Trinidad to shoot craps in an alley at 3:30 in the morning either. If I did that, maybe I'd be a bit more apprehensive. But if one lives an even approximately normal lifestyle and bears in mind some of the basic advice re urban living noted above, there's simply no reason to consider crime much differently from being struck by lightning. There's always a chance it could happen, but it isn't something you'd want to run your life around. The city is too much fun and has too much to offer to let that happen...
You will be fine just use big city common sense...no cc's or debit cards in wallet, carry low amts of cash, walk in crowded well lit areas.
Out of curiosity, if not in your wallet, where do you keep credit/debit cards? And why small amounts of cash? I've known people who carry a hundred dollars or more under the presumption that a mugger wouldn't be very happy roughing somebody up for 7 bucks... and unless you're trying to be a high roller and flashing your wad in public, the potential crook has no idea what anyone is carrying (to some extent).
Out of curiosity, if not in your wallet, where do you keep credit/debit cards? And why small amounts of cash? I've known people who carry a hundred dollars or more under the presumption that a mugger wouldn't be very happy roughing somebody up for 7 bucks... and unless you're trying to be a high roller and flashing your wad in public, the potential crook has no idea what anyone is carrying (to some extent).
1. at home in a safe
2. I'm not really concerned about meeting mugger approval. If I got 5 bucks I got 5 bucks...
Just using common sense....I pull out the cards on the weekends when I'm in the burbs where the stores rob me...
If something is going to happen to you, it's going to happen regardless, however, you can be smart about your surroundings and the things you do. I never leave anything on my car seats. I don't care if its a stick of gum. I tell my GF if she has to take a pocketbook, always walk with the strap across your shoulders. Never put anything into your back pockets on the metro.
Out of curiosity, if not in your wallet, where do you keep credit/debit cards? And why small amounts of cash? I've known people who carry a hundred dollars or more under the presumption that a mugger wouldn't be very happy roughing somebody up for 7 bucks... and unless you're trying to be a high roller and flashing your wad in public, the potential crook has no idea what anyone is carrying (to some extent).
Generally, I'll carry a little cash and one credit card (figuring that if it's stolen, I can cancel it-although I could be wrong in this). Debit cards are hard, since it can be more difficult to get your money back once it's gone, so I hardly carry those around.
My basic idea is to be prepared with what to do, should everything I have on me be taken from me. As for the mugger being unhappy with his $7, that's his problem. The general idea is to take whatever you have, throw it in one direction, and run the other way. I'm not exactly waiting around to see if he's going to give me some change.
As much as I dislike DC, I agree with what others are saying here. If you're careful, you're probably going to be OK. You can't avoid crime here completely, but that's just like any major city. A co-worker of mine got mugged in Northwest walking on a well-lit street from the Metro to her apartment, for example. But that kind of thing isn't rampant, either. The only advice I can offer is to stay out of Southeast, where there IS a lot of violent crime. Why go looking for trouble and tempting fate, after all?
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