Is “return to the office” an anti-crime measure?

The Washington Post editorial board has a crime-fighting proposal: force everyone to return to the office full time. Actually, it is almost a throw-way comment by Eugene Robinson, the author of that part of the editorial. But I’m sure that the anti-remote work folks will pick up on it sooner or later.

There are only two problems with that suggestion. One, it isn’t going to happen. All the data shows that people are not willing to completely give up on remote working. The hybrid model of in the office 2 to 3 days a week is rapidly emerging as the new norm.

Two, the idea that a return-to-the-office will save us goes the wrong way. Most of Robinson’s argument has little to do with return to the office full time. It’s about people and re-activating a vibrant street life. Instead of pushing for the Feds to return full time to downtown, DC needs to push hard to re-make downtown into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood with work space, retail, residential, and entertainment/hospitality. Trying to re-create the pre-pandemic situation where a large part of the work force leaves the city at night (and creates downtown dead zone in the evening hours) is not the solution.

Such a transformation is not a guarantee of success in the fight against crime. As Robinson points out, a neighborhood can easily fall into a vicious cycle: “if crime is allowed to tick up in a given area, people who once frequented the neighborhood’s stores, restaurants and bars have reason to stay away, making it less likely there will be foot traffic at any given time — which, according to the [routine activity] theory, is an invitation for even more crime. The H Street corridor in Northeast, in particular, appears in danger of falling into this cycle.”

This need not be the case. But fighting crime is a multi-facetted issue. It will take a multipronged approach. Robinson’s point is well taken. More eyes on the street, the better. But that has little to do with requiring an office worker to sit at a desk from 9 to 5. The workplace world has moved on.