Crime in Washington, D.C.:
Thefts & auto thefts dominate

Are you live in Washington, D.C.? Do you work or study there? It may surprise you to learn that downtown D.C. and Capitol Hill neighborhoods have most thefts — which excludes thefts from auto and motor vehicles.

Violent crimes, such as robbery, assault, sex abuse and murders, are more likely to happen in Columbia Height, Logan Circle and Trinidad, although similar crimes happen across the city. Western D.C. is relatively safer.

This crime map above is based on nine different kinds of offenses. The data is from the Washington, D.C. government. On the map, one circle is one reported crime. The brighter the circle, the more crimes happened at that location.

Thefts are the largest crime category in Washington. The number dropped slightly between 2016 and 2015 — 13,951 from 14,016.

Auto theft is the next most numerous crime, with 10,789 last year. Theft and auto theft are the only two crimes that happened more than 10,000 times in 2016. Robbery, motor vehicle theft, assault and burglary were between 2,000 to 3,000 times. Sex abuse, homicide were below 350. Arson had 6.

The chart below shows the total numbers of crimes in D.C. in 2016.

Most of the theft happened in daytime, especially during afternoon. Thefts reached a peak at 3 p.m., when people are still in office or school. The number of theft crimes declined during the evening, but was higher than other crimes. Auto thefts had a similar pattern.

Violent crimes such as robbery and assault increased slightly between noon and midnight. Sex abuse and homicides were distributed relatively evenly.

The chart below shows the hour when crimes happened in a day in Washington, D.C. in 2016. Hover over the lines to see the exact numbers. Arson is not inculded in this chart