Washington, DCĀ – Aggravated assault in the District has fallen to its lowest point since at least 2018, marking a significant shift from the violence surges seen earlier in the decade, according to the latest data from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ).
From January to June 2025, Washington recorded an aggravated assault rate of roughly 56 per 100,000 residents – a sharp decline from pandemic-era highs.
The most recent data shows 66 reported aggravated assaults in June 2025, translating to a rate of 9.4 per 100,000 residents.
This represents a 65% reduction from the cityās peak in September 2021, when assaults reached 181 incidents and a rate of 26.5.
The CCJ data highlights three major spikes in aggravated assault between January 2018 and June 2025.
The first occurred in May 2019, with 169 incidents (23.9 per 100,000), followed by July 2020, with 175 incidents (25.4), and finally the record high in September 2021.
These peaks coincided with broader trends of rising violent crime during the late 2010s and the pandemicās early years.
Since 2022, however, rates have steadily declined. The downward trend accelerated through 2024 and into 2025, with the first half of this year showing the steepest year-over-year drop in the period analyzed.
The current levels are not only well below the highs of 2020ā2021 but also substantially lower than pre-pandemic averages.
Analysts point to several factors that may be driving the decline, including targeted policing strategies, community violence intervention programs, and broader national patterns of falling aggravated assault rates in some cities.
Still, CCJ cautions that crime rates can fluctuate, and sustained reductions will depend on continued prevention and enforcement efforts.
The latest figures, illustrated in CCJās half-year rate chart, suggest that Washington, DC is experiencing meaningful progress in reducing violent assaults – a trend city officials will be eager to maintain in the months ahead.