Archived. This brief was last updated in September 2026 and no longer updates. Analyses of DC policing now live at Residents Count.

Monthly Crime and Policing Brief

Downtown Crime and Policing Report, February 2026

67 reported incidents · Washington, DC · Source: DC MPD

Reported incidents measure what residents report to MPD, not how safe a place is. This brief pairs them with how enforcement lands in the police districts covering Downtown.

Downtown highlighted on a map of Washington, DC

Key Takeaways

67 incidents were reported in Downtown in February 2026.
Theft (Other) was the most common offense (48 incidents, 72% of the month's total).
Total incidents were down 19% versus January 2026 and down 43% versus February 2025.
The biggest month-over-month change was Theft (Other), which fell from 66 to 48.
This February was 50% below the 5-year historical average for the month (~134 incidents).

Monthly Crime Volume, Downtown

Reported incidents per month, trailing 13 months through February 2026. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 1,734 incidents over 13 months. Y axis: incidents per month.

February Incidents by Year, Downtown

February incidents across recent years: the seasonal view. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 735 incidents across 6 years of February. Y axis: incidents in the month.

Offense Breakdown, Downtown

Offense breakdown for February 2026. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 67 incidents; X axis: incidents in the month.

How Policing Lands Here

MPD District 2 covers about 52% of Downtown's reported incidents. 29,525 stops of persons were recorded there since 2023; Black people were stopped at 6.7x their share of the district's population; the district drew 0.7x the stops that its share of reported crime accounts for. Full District 2 analysis →
MPD District 1 covers about 40% of Downtown's reported incidents. 31,770 stops of persons were recorded there since 2023; Black people were stopped at 3.1x their share of the district's population; the district drew 1.0x the stops that its share of reported crime accounts for. Full District 1 analysis →

These figures come from the same MPD stop records and reported-crime data analyzed across this site. Reported crime is not occurred crime, and stop counts measure enforcement, not danger. Methodology: stops by district and enforcement vs reported crime.

← January 2026 · March 2026 →

Free Monthly Downtown Crime Brief

Get a one-page Downtown crime brief by email each month: last month's incidents, month-over-month and year-over-year comparisons, and the seasonal trend.

← All neighborhood briefs

Incident counts reflect reported MPD crimes for the calendar month and are subject to revision. This report shows historical incident counts and trends only.