D.C. police said six people were arrested Friday, including one for assaulting a police officer, after several large groups of juveniles descended upon the Navy Yard.
Metropolitan Police said the other five people were taken into custody on disorderly conduct charges. None of those who were arrested were identified by police.
The officer who was assaulted was not seriously injured, police said, and there were no other serious injuries reported.
Walking toward half street a bit ago in Navy Yard https://t.co/2X8IqLimtE pic.twitter.com/KV7LNIYRIr
— Zachary Halaschak (@zhalaschak) April 19, 2025
Videos posted to social media showed a heavy police presence in the Navy Yard neighborhood late Friday.
Some juveniles were seen running through the streets as officers tried to corral the youth.
Earlier this month, Metropolitan Police created a special unit dedicated to tackling juvenile crime after officials said teenagers and preteens were increasingly linked to major crimes and fights at school.
The new team, called the Juvenile Investigative Response Unit, centralized all of MPD’s active probes against juvenile suspects previously scattered across the department’s seven police districts.
“Our success will be measured by tracking recidivism,” Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said when announcing the new unit.
Chief Smith said the JIRU will also interrupt ongoing disputes between young people and prevent those beefs from spiraling into future crimes. Further, the unit will be involved in the juveniles’ progression through diversion programs following their convictions.
MPD said the new unit will deepen the police department’s relationships with the city’s Child and Family Services Agency, the Department of Human Services and the Office of the Attorney General, which prosecutes the bulk of the juvenile crime in the District.
Police officials said the JIRU was not created in response to President Trump’s growing interest in addressing crime and disorder in the nation’s capital.
Mr. Trump, a Republican, signed an order last month to make the District “safe, beautiful, and prosperous” by creating a task force that will, in part, surge police officers in public areas and “strictly enforce” quality-of-life crimes.
The order also says it will strengthen pre-trial detention policies, expedite concealed-carry licenses, stop fare evasion on Metro transit and help bring more recruits into MPD.
