Crime Is Up on Metro in 2015

A report published Thursday by Metro shows that assaults and robberies on the transit system increased in the first three months of 2015 compared to a year earlier, with a significant rise in the number of incidents committed at knifepoint.

There were 16 assaults using a knife in the first quarter of the year, compared to just five in the first quarter of 2014, a spike that contributed heavily to a 31.8 percent increase in aggravated assaults, the Metro report reads. Among the incidents this year was a March 15 stabbing of a manager at Metro’s Stadium-Armory station; a suspect was arrested April 6.

Robberies also increased by 24 percent from a year earlier, with 28 percent coming at bus stops. The increase in robberies was driven largely by events in which between the suspect used force or violence, with 47 incidents reported between January and March, compared to 31 a year earlier. Bicycle thefts jumped up by 20 percent, too, from 20 to 24 over the first three months of the year. Two stations in Alexandria—King Street and Braddock Road—led the transit system in bike crimes.

Metro does report progress in decreasing crimes at its parking facilities, with only two auto thefts reported in the first quarter compared to nine last year. The transit authority attributes the drop to increased deployment of security personnel and deterrent vehicles.

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.