Archived snapshotMay 2026 · narrative + chart preserved as published · live data has moved on
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Washington DC · monthly briefing

Washington DC Crime Rate — May 2026

Walter Reed other larceny ran 367% above its multi-year baseline.

Walter Reed other-larceny is the lead signal for May 2026 — a sharp upward move, the largest individual anomaly this month. Colonial Village registered the same category in the top five, making other-larceny the one category bucking the dominant downward trend across Washington DC this briefing. No prior-month lead carried over; this is a fresh pairing at the top of the rankings.

Citywide volume is down 24.0% against the prior 12 months — 21,536 incidents against 28,354 the year before. The signal mix reflects that decline: 59 sustained-shift signals and 30 below-trend signals, against just 2 fresh spikes across 41 neighborhoods. Petworth theft-from-vehicle and Capitol View robbery both ran below trend, and Adams Morgan burglary joins them in the top five — three distinct categories, three distinct neighborhoods, all moving in the same direction.

The structural story this month is a broad, category-spanning decline that has now pushed citywide volume to a 24.0% gap versus the prior year. The Walter Reed and Colonial Village other-larceny moves are the exception to that pattern, not the rule. Whether they represent the start of a sustained shift or an isolated month is something the next briefing will clarify.

FIG 1 · LEAD ANOMALYOTHER LARCENY · WALTER REED · 24-MO COUNT
037μ 2.3 · σ 1.5 · trailing 12-mo2024-062026-05ARCHIVED
Walter Reed other larceny, monthly count over 24 months ending in May 2026. The dashed line is the trailing-12-month mean for context. The final bar (highlighted) is May. Frozen view as published.

Sustained drops worth naming

Homicide ran below trend in the trailing 12 months — 48% down from the year before. Sustained shifts often precede a baseline reset; we surface them at the same prominence as spikes.

CITEPublic Analyst.ai, “May 2026Washington DC,” archived snapshot.Permanent URL: /dc/2026/may