Are you safe yet?

Very interesting about Washington DC is that even in Germany I have heard all these news about crime in this part of the country (it was for several years on top of the homicide statistics). Also my tourist guide is mentioning this problem. But surprising enough this might have been the safest city I was ever in so far. The amount of policemen, cars, bikes and all that is amazing. And what was even more surprising for me is that every agency seems to have their own police units.

So you'll end up seeing the capitol police units, the DC metro police units (which is the regular police I would guess), the White House police squat, the White House uniformed secret service unit, the FBI police, and so on.
When I arrived in Washington around 10 pm local time I just walked over to the White House to get a first glance (and a beer in a local bar, but that is another story) I was surprised to find the whole city deserted.

Especially the National Mall which is the main part of Washington with all the monuments, museums, governmental buildings and tourist attractions seemed more like a ghost town to me. Except the police officer standing across the White House like a marble stature, watching every step I took. Strange... but I felt safe I have to say ;-)
On the other hand I stayed just across the Watergate Hotel so I didn't really see other parts of the town at night... but staying on the tourists paths seemed to be the safest thing I did so far over here :-P