Robberies On Mall A Trend, Chief Says

Police said that was the case in Georgetown early Sunday, when British activist Alan Senitt, 27, was fatally slashed in a holdup. Four suspects are in custody, all from other parts of the city.

As Ramsey used his emergency powers to adjust officers' schedules to boost patrols, the D.C. Council approved a plan to hire the additional 350 police officers. The vote was 12 to 1, with Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) saying she voted no because the funding is based on revenue projections and is not currently available. She also said that it takes years to boost the force by such numbers. Ramsey said he can hire about 100 officers a year.

Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) sponsored the legislation, which, coupled with earlier legislation sponsored by Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), means the council has approved hiring a total of 450 new officers at a cost of $28 million.

"At the end of the day, people want more visible officers on the street," Evans said.

Crime has not been a major issue in the D.C. mayor's race. The five major Democratic candidates have been focusing more closely on education, affordable housing and jobs.

Yesterday, three of the five -- D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp, council member Adrian M. Fenty (Ward 4) and lobbyist Michael A. Brown -- said they would respond to the crisis by increasing police presence in neighborhoods. But the three, plus former Verizon executive Marie C. Johns, also said that the city should have more summer jobs, better schools and longer hours at summer camps and other recreation programs to give children something constructive to do. The fifth candidate, council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (Ward 5), did not return phone calls.

On Capitol Hill, Wolf, the chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee, called for President Bush to convene a summit of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to address the problem.

"The level of violence the District of Columbia continues to experience is alarming, whether it be in the poorest of neighborhoods in the city or on the National Mall," Wolf wrote in a letter to Bush.

Similar views were expressed by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who noted that the attacks on the Mall could have economic consequences for the city.

"When this message of crime on the Mall gets amplified, it can kill our economy," Norton said. In the past, she said, tourists got the message that D.C. crime was confined to economically depressed neighborhoods and that hotels, museums and restaurants were safe.

Ed Rudzinski, chairman of the board of the D.C. Hotel Association, said no groups have pulled out of the city because of the crime emergency.

"There's been absolutely no effect on business so far," Rudzinski said. "Not even a peep." Rudzinski is general manager of the largest hotel in the city -- the Marriott Wardman Park on Connecticut Avenue NW.

But he cautioned that Georgetown is one of the big draws for attendees of meetings, large conventions and tourists. "For a gentleman to get his throat slashed in Georgetown, it's a scary thing, because that's where tourists want to go," Rudzinski said. "We're going to have to do some damage control."

Staff writers Dana Hedgpeth, Tom Jackman, Ernesto Londoño, Lori Montgomery, Ylan Q. Mui and Nikita Stewart contributed to this report.