This past weekend, a series of shootings rattled Petworth. There was a shooting on Marlboro Place causing multiple injuries. A fatal shooting at Georgia and Allison. And a burst of gunfire at 8th and Crittenden (only a bunch of cars were shot up). It provoked a promise from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier of a devotion of resources, manpower, etc. If you live in Petworth, Lanier asserted you’d see a “saturation” of cops.

Last night, we decided to factcheck Lanier’s promise. We saw one cop on Marlboro Place. He sat in his idling cruiser, his laptop set to his AOL account. Georgia and Allison was quiet. At 8th and Crittenden, we saw only an empty cruiser parked up the block. We decided to wait and see if any real cops would ever show up.

We listened to reggae in our Corolla. We ran out of small talk. We swapped college stories. We got excited when a cab pulled up. We watched neighbors parallel park. And we got real bored and real cold. Watch:

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Video by Ted Scheinman