STATISTICS 3280 FINAL PROJECT
Miles Wiley
2025-04-18
Crime in Washington, D.C.
Introduction
I live outside of Washington, D.C., and have always thought about living there after I graduate from UVA. I want to create a visualization that explores where violent crimes occur most frequently in Washington, D.C., and to identify the types of offenses that are most common in those areas. Violent crime is defined as: Arson, Assault with a dangerous weapon, homicide, robbery, and sex abuse. I hope to create a plot is designed to help viewers recognize both geographic concentrations of violent crime and the relative prevalence of specific offenses. Better understanding crime in Washington, D.C.can help individuals decide if they want to live there. Moreover, individuals can use this information to strategically select safer housing.
Questions
What areas of Washington, D.C. experience the most violent crime?
Which types of violent crime are most prevalent in those areas?
Do certain days, months, or times experience higher levels of crime?
Data
Data was collected from Kaggle.com. It contains reported DC Metro crime data from 2015 to 2023. It contains both violent and non-violent crime data. The main data manipulation that occurred was combining theft from vehicles (THEFT F/AUTO) and other theft (THEFT/OTHER). I decided to combine them into a single classification (THEFT).
Visualization 1: Crime in Washington, D.C. (2015-2023)
The above figure depicts a steep decline of total crime from the years 2015 to 2022 with the lowest level during the period of the highest COVID-19 pandemic. Crime’s decline could be due to many reasons but the lowest rate of crime happening during the period of the pandemic makes sense as Washington, D.C. followed stringent COVID laws. Many restaurants were closed or open for pickup alone, individuals worked at home, and individuals did not leave their houses as frequently. Violent crimes were surprisingly quite stable over the years, indicating that they may be less sensitive to short-term social disturbances. This stability makes it all the more important to examine where these crimes are occurring and which types are most common. By placing this trend into context, we can better observe whether and how public safety concerns have changed in Washington, D.C. which may be a critical consideration for prospective residents.
Visualization 2: Violent Crime in Washington, D.C. in 2023
Violent Crime Incidents in Washington, D.C. in 2023
The leaflet map (left) highlights that violent crime is most prevalent around Capital Hill and central D.C., areas in 2023. These areas are frequented by tourists are are densely populated during the day. On the contrary, the northwestern part of D.C., such as the Chevy Chase area, does not experience much violent crime. This may be due to greater socioeconomic status and a location that most likely resembles a suburban neighborhood. This visualization highlights the importance of situational awareness in busy zones and helps prospective residents evaluate safety across neighborhoods.
The treemap (right) highlights how robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon are the most common violent offenses, suggesting that opportunistic and confrontational crimes dominate the landscape. While homicides and arson are far less frequent.
Visualization 3: Reported Crime by Ward in Washington, D.C. (2015-2023)
These visualizations are able to provide insight into how reported crime in Washington, D.C. is spread across its eight wards. While the overall number of crimes changes from year to year, the relative spread of crime across D.C.’s wards remains constant. Wards 1, 2, and 5 consistently have the most overall reported crimes. They also contain the most non-violent crimes. Investigating only violent crime, Wards 5, 7, and 8 record more than other wards, suggesting localized clusters of increased violent activity. Conversely, Wards 3 and 4 have lower rates of crime, including violent crime, each year, which could suggest that these wards are some of the safest in the city. This stratification allows residents to separate possible hotspots from safer neighborhoods, consistent with the broader purpose of helping users choose safe housing with the help of crime statistics.
Visualization 4: Heatmap of Crime in Washington, D.C. (2015-2023)
The month-by-month heatmap (top) illustrates the number of crimes that take place in Washington, D.C., each year and month. There is a strong seasonal trend: crime rates are highest during the summer months (June to August). This is indicated by the darker red shades. This also makes perfect sense because individuals are more likely to be outside and among other people. 2020 to 2022 shows a definite decrease in crime levels overall, especially in spring and summer, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. In 2023, crime levels appear to revert to a level nearer to pre-pandemic levels.
The day-of-week heatmap (bottom) shows which days of the week typically have the highest crime counts in the years. Fridays and Saturdays always have higher reported crime than weekdays, reflected by the dark reds. Again, a decrease in total incidents during pandemic years (2020–2022) is apparent, likely because people traveled less and socialized. Interestingly, 2015 was also very crime-prone with an abundance of crime on each day of the week.
Visualization 5: Time of Crime in Washington, D.C. (2015-2023)
This chart was super interesting to me because it shows how crime in D.C. is distributed by time of day. The evening shift consistently has the highest crime counts. One thing I did not expect is crime around midnight to be so low. I would expect more crimes would be occurring during this time because individuals can use the cover of darkness. The distribution of crimes throughout the day is fairly consistent across all years with a unsurprising dip during COVID years (2020-2022).
Visualization 6: Total Crime by Type (2015-2023)
Theft absolutely dominates crime in D.C. from 2015 to 2023. The next most frequent crimes are motor vehicle theft and robbery, but they’re dwarfed by the sheer volume of theft incidents. On the flip side, violent crimes like homicide, arson, and sex abuse occur far less frequently, though they’re obviously more severe in nature. This kind of plot helps show how much of D.C.’s crime is property-related, and it highlights the importance of being cautious with your belongings.
Visualization 7: Washington, D.C. Crimes by Offense Type (2015-2023)
This interactive chart drives home a similar point as the previous visualization: theft dominates crime in D.C. No matter what time of day, whether it’s day, evening, or midnight, theft far outpaces all other offenses, followed by motor vehicle theft, robbery, and assault with a dangerous weapon. The time-of-day filter provides flexibility, but the overall trend stays the same: property crimes are the most frequent.
Conclusion
This research provides valuable insights about crime in Washington, D.C. Individuals can better recognize which parts of D.C. are the most dangerous and which months and days experience the highest frequency in crime. All in all, viewers can utilize this information to help make decisions about where they want to live and plan events or outings.