A cost projection was not immediately available, but the chief said, “I think we need to find the money to ensure people are safe.” He was joined by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).

The fatal shooting of a 19-year-old during a gun battle Sunday in Shaw brought the District’s homicide count to 131, up 11 percent from this time last year. That is on top of a 40 percent increase in killings in 2018.

Authorities are struggling to address what could be back-to-back years of increased homicides that have brought unwanted attention amid a surge of new residents and rapid gentrification. Newsham described 2019 as a “challenging year” for gun violence.

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Two weeks ago, a gunman armed with a high-powered rifle fired into a courtyard at an apartment complex in Columbia Heights, killing one man and injuring five others. Police are still looking for a silver-colored sedan, and Newsham implored residents to help police find it.

Police on Tuesday said they arrested a suspect in the killing of a homeless man in a shelter on New York Avenue in May. Marco Eugene Scott-Bey, 31, of Northeast, was charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of David Bodrick, 53.

Stephen Bigelow, chairman of the D.C. police union, said the District needs to “reevaluate the crime strategy that we are using,” saying that the city has bowed to complaints by activists alleging discriminatory policing and curtailed efforts by officers to be proactive.

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“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Bigelow said, noting not only a series of shootings, but also three officers who were shot at or shot in recent weeks. “We need to get back to policing properly.”

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Patrol officers are getting overtime work in police districts 3, 5 and 6 , which include areas of Columbia Heights, Trinidad, Brentwood, Kenilworth and Deanwood.