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No one immune in DC

stubeeef

stubeeef

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 10, 2004
2,715
4
This is just too rich. Police Chief of DC gets his car stolen! Who ya gonna call?
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=2&u=/nm/20050621/od_nm/cartheft_dc

(sorry to put entire address here, but working from a clunky terminal, dell, on a aircraft maintenance hangar floor, and it won't let me use the link function.)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No one in the U.S. capital is immune to car theft, not even the city's highest ranking law enforcement official.

Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey's unmarked black Ford Crown Victoria disappeared from a street near his home some time between Friday and early Sunday while he was out of town, a police spokesman said on Monday.

"When he went out to use it to go to church, he found it was missing and reported it stolen," police spokesman Quintin Peterson told Reuters.
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I've been to DC twice - and I think that's about enough for me. I'm not sure it's a place that I see myself going back to ever again. You get the sights and monuments out of your system and you never really look back.
 
DC

stubeeef said:
(sorry to put entire address here, but working from a clunky terminal, dell, on a aircraft maintenance hangar floor, and it won't let me use the link function.)
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So um, Stubeef. Shouldn't you be fixing planes or something instead of wasting time on Macrumors? :p

It's no secret that DC is not the most crime-free city. Some neighborhoods are downright scary.
 
DC isn't that bad and there are tons of great places. Anacostia - over the river in SE DC is not a good place to be, but there really isn't anything there you'd want to see.

I spent 11 years there and look forward to going back when ever I can - I really miss the food.

As for the police chief getting his car stolen - its not like he had "DC Police Chief" written on it, so its just bad luck.

D
 
Daveway said:
Doesn't give me much confidence about my trip there next month. :rolleyes:
But D.C. really is a bad place outside the confines of the "mall", the outskirts are like the hood.
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The outskirts are like the hood? I really think you should actually _see_ the city before you make generalized statements. DC is one of the richest cities in America. Many of the neighborhoods reflect that.

US Cities with worse Motor vehicle theft rates than DC (1605.9_):

Pheonix, AZ (1823.9)
Detroit, MI (2480)
Fresno, CA (1618.3)
St. Louis, MO (2786.1)
Atlanta, GA (1658.3)
Tampa, FL (2,117.7)
Newark, NJ (2,268.4)

Cities that are within 10% of DC's rate: Dallas, TX; Seattle, WA; New Orleans, LA; Kansas City, MO; Sacramento, CA; Oakland, CA;.

When you consider how DC's population is distorted downward by defined city limits and huge suburbs, DC's auto theft rate is actually not anything out of the ordinary. Cities like NY have very low rates because there are fewer car owners per capita and less auto commuting.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004902.html
 
IIRC, DC has the highest murder rate in the country (and also the most stringent gun laws in the country. coincidence? I doubt it). San Francisco, OTOH, has the highest rate of unsolved murders.
 
I lived in DC for four years.

The police force is pretty lame. More interested in writing tickets than actually maintaining a presence. Had my car broken into once (stereo), a brick thrown through the front windshield, and a full on hit and run on the same street while I was living there.

I drove my bosses SUV home one night and came out in the morning to find the roof rack gone. I got a ticket stating "your vehicle has been spotted parking here more than twice in 180 days" the next day.

Effed up priorities, low recruitment standards and low expectations.

That said, I run on the mall and the Mt. Vernon trail at 3:00 in the morning some Sundays. Never been afraid. My own street (in NW, a nicer part of town) still gave me the willies.

Glad to be back in Annapolis. :D
 
My father-in-law got mugged there recently, along with his 8 year old son. No violence, just took the money at gun point.
 
iGary said:
I drove my bosses SUV home one night and came out in the morning to find the roof rack gone. I got a ticket stating "your vehicle has been spotted parking here more than twice in 180 days" the next day.
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So you can only park your car in this are once or twice every 180 days? Or did I read that wrong? :confused:
 
Like any city parts of DC are good and parts are bad.
Like any city you can go from good to bad really quickly.

DC is okay around the mall. NW for the most part is okay. Stay west of Rock Creek Park. Stay west of the Capitol and you should be safe.

DC police used to be a joke because of the inept and corrupt city government. For the tourist areas the area is covered by park police and other federal authorities who are competent.

I don't know how the DC police are now, probably much better.

The murder rate in DC is down to something more normal.

Watch out for parking and running red lights. That is something the DC police have always been enthusiastic about.

Don't eat on the Metro. Don't have open food on the metro. Don't drink on the Metro. Don't tempt fate by thinking that I am exaggerating.
 
MongoTheGeek said:
Watch out for parking and running red lights. That is something the DC police have always been enthusiastic about.
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They still have a bunch of automatic traffic violation cameras and some major intersections in DC....so you could run a red light and not ever see a cop, but get a ticket in the mail :D

D
 
tech4all said:
So you can only park your car in this are once or twice every 180 days? Or did I read that wrong? :confused:
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I still had my car registered in Maryland at the time. They wanted me to register my car in DC. Took me two months to get out of that. :rolleyes:

The thing that burned me wa sthe ticket was written at 3:30 in the morning. So they are prowling around looking for out of state cars, but can't keep people from riping off roof racks and breaking into cars?
 
Follow up

Follow up article in today's Post.

Ramsey Car Theft Generates Laughs, if Not Leads
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 22, 2005; Page B01

The reaction across the city was swift, and a bit on the mean side.

"Bwahahahaha!" one Internet chatter howled in response to the news that D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey was the latest victim of the District's car bandits.

"Looks like no car is safe. I guess if you're police chief, you don't think your car will be stolen," Shand said. "But guess what?"

A day after Ramsey reported that someone had taken his department-issued Ford Crown Victoria from a street near his Southwest home, other Washingtonians whose cars had been swiped had a laugh at the chief's expense.

"I laughed about it, because in my [area], cars get stolen all the time by these kiddie car thieves," said Charlene Exum, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Fort Dupont Park, where cars are often taken by joy riders so young that they sit on phone books to help them see over the steering wheel...

More:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101627.html
 
Damn, I wish I had the link, but just a week or two ago there was a story about a law enforcement officer whose private car was stolen. A bit later, he was out on patrol, passed a car and thought, "Wait a minute...that's mine!!" Needless to say, he pulled it over and arrested the driver. :p
 
Wow, so much drama about DC. It's hardly as scary as some make it out to be. I spend plenty of time in Georgetown, Adams-Morgan and especially Dupont without a single complaint to show for it. Just don't go to Anacostia. Very simple to remember. :)

-bluemouse
 
iGary said:
P.S. Chicago, Baltimore and DC rounded out the top three for 2004, according to the FBI.

Yes, Chicago.
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yeah Chicago has the highest murder rate right now, and i think it has been that way for the last couple of years. Its due to the overwhelming gang population in some areas of the city.... things get crazy here sometimes. DC wasn't all that bad when i visited a little while back, heck my car was just broken into three weeks ago just outside of my house, but due to the warehouse next store (Marshal Fields at that) i got the arse on camera and got him in jail! no money though, guess i need to get a new stereo still.......

ps. i suppose i should add that although Chicago has the highest level of murders in the country i have no worries, so long as i stay out of certain neighborhoods... and its not like those are areas i would want to venture into anyways...
 
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