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, August 2026

148 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

148 incidents were reported in Downtown in August 2026.
Theft (Other) was the most common offense (105 incidents, 71% of the month's total).
Total incidents were up 9% versus July 2026 and down 9% versus August 2025.
The biggest month-over-month change was Motor Vehicle Theft, which rose from 6 to 17.
This August was 14% below the 5-year historical average for the month (~173 incidents).

Monthly Crime Volume, Downtown

Reported incidents per month, trailing 13 months through August 2026. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 1,552 incidents over 13 months. Y axis: incidents per month.

August Incidents by Year, Downtown

August incidents across recent years: the seasonal view. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 1,012 incidents across 6 years of August. Y axis: incidents in the month.

Offense Breakdown, Downtown

Offense breakdown for August 2026. Source: MPD reported incidents (nine Part I offenses) via DC Open Data; N = 148 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.

← July 2026 · September 2026 →

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