Crime Rate Drops, Even Though Calls To Police Rise

The Prince William County Police Department received increased calls for service last year, but the crime rate dropped to its lowest rate in five years, according to the 2007 crime statistics officials released this week.

The reduction comes even as Prince William's population increased by more than 10,000 residents to 381,221 last year.

"This remains a safe community as we've historically seen," Police Chief Charlie T. Deane said at a Monday news conference upon releasing the numbers.

The crime rate, the number of crimes per 1,000 residents, was down from 21.6 percent in 2006 to 19.8 percent in 2007, reflecting a decrease in homicides, robberies, burglaries, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts.

Of those crimes, the most significant decrease was in homicides, down 43.8 percent from 16 in 2006 to nine last year. Five of those slayings were domestic-related incidents, including a triple homicide Dec. 9 in Woodbridge.

In that incident, police said Anastacio Sanchez-Miranda entered the Grandview Avenue house looking to kill the mother of his children, Judith Europa. Police said he instead killed her sister, Rosario Europa, 24, and brother-in-law, Juan Manuel Guevara, 28, along with another man who lived in the house, Gerardo Lopez Garcia, 25. One child was orphaned as a result. The homicide statistics do not include the January confession of Donald A. Brew, who after more than 35 years of freedom told police he killed a woman in 1969.

Deane said the "most heartening" statistic was the reduction in robberies.

Robberies, particularly street crimes targeting Hispanic immigrants, had been increasing steadily in the county over the past few years to a high of 351 in 2006. In 2007, those types of robberies were down by 22 percent, to 272. Deane attributed the drop to more arrests, nearly 14,000 last year, and the department's robberies-suppression initiative, which began in 2006 and involves surveillance and aggressive policing in known hot spots.

Suspects have been known to dub the robberies "amigo shopping," after the Hispanic immigrants who are targeted because they are perceived to carry large amounts of cash instead of using banks. Even with the decrease, Hispanic immigrants made up almost half, more than 48 percent, of the victims of street robberies in 2007.

A decrease in burglaries was also noted. Officials attributed the drop to a change in the construction industry's practice of leaving appliances and other valuables in residences before they are sold. In 2007, there were 996 burglaries, compared with 1,389 in 2006.

The vehicle crash rate was also down, with 4,684 crashes reported in 2007, a decrease of 24.5 percent. Twenty-four were fatal: Eight of the victims were on motorcycles and five on foot.

Of the major crimes against people, rape was the only category that increased last year. There were 28 rapes in the county, up 33.3 percent from 21 in 2006. Maj. Ray Colgan, assistant chief, said that in general those were not random and that in all but one case, the victim knew the perpetrator. Among other crimes that increased were assaults, embezzlement, prostitution, gambling and public drunkenness.

The Police Department's budget also increased, from $57.2 million in 2006 to $63.7 million.

Deane said the jump reflects additional resources needed to keep pace with the population changes. A total of 228,785 calls for service were received by the department in 2007, about 6,000 more than the year before.

"It's a matter of always playing catch up," Deane said. "At any time, we have more calls than people to respond to them."