Steep Drop in Crime Is Reported
Pr. George's Touts 3 Years' Progress Against Violence

By Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Three years ago, it appeared that Prince George's County might one day rival the District as the murder capital of the Washington region. By other measures, it was already more violent. Every 12 hours, on average, someone was carjacked on a county road. Every day, 41 cars disappeared. Rapes, robberies, assaults and burglaries were setting records.

But in 2006, as violent crime rose in the District, things quieted down in Prince George's. The next year was quieter still.

Yesterday, Prince George's police announced that 2008 brought further reductions. Fewer people were raped, robbed, carjacked and assaulted than the year before. Homicides, which set a record of 173 in 2005, were down 21 percent, to 136, last year.

"The fact is that in 2005, we made a commitment to turn things around, and we have," said Vernon Herron, the county's director of public safety.

Carjackings were down from 768 in 2005 to 316 last year, a drop of nearly 59 percent. Auto thefts were down from 15,188 to 8,673, a drop of 45 percent. Violent crime was down 32 percent from 2005, and total crime dropped 25 percent.

County officials called a news conference yesterday to tout the year-end numbers, which have not been certified by the department. The Prince George's numbers were released a week after Montgomery County officials said that the county was on track to report a 7.7 percent increase in serious crime in 2008, the largest year-to-year jump in 17 years. Montgomery has not released year-end numbers.

No one answer explains how Prince George's has reduced crime. Police said they have stepped up efforts to combat gang violence and used squads of elite officers to target known criminals. Officers have also tried to build relationships with residents, encouraging them to protect their neighborhoods by providing police with tips.

"We work hard to bring the community and the police officers together because trust is the key," said County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D). "They have to trust the officers, and the officers have got to trust the citizens. For a long time, we had a big distrust between the citizens of Prince George's County and the police department. . . . I think we're breaking that down."

Bowie resident Charles Brown, who attended the news conference as a member of one of the department's citizen advisory councils, said he has seen progress in community-police relations. "I can see, and have seen, the results of the community working with police officers," he said. "I'm seeing more residents out there making our neighborhoods safe."

Civil rights leaders, however, said police relations with the public continue to be strained by incidents such as the death in June of county jail inmate Ronnie White, 19, who was suspected of killing a county police officer, and a series of police-involved shootings, eight of which were fatal.

"We're thrilled that crime numbers are coming down in Prince George's and appreciate the efforts of the county to reach out to immigrants," said Kerry O'Brien, manager of the activist group CASA of Maryland's legal program. "But we're really looking for swift and transparent investigations" into the killings of White and Manuel de Jesus Espina, 43, who was killed in one of the police shootings.

Community leaders also said reductions in some crime categories have not necessarily made residents feel safer. Residential burglaries and robberies have crept up in recent months, leaving homeowners feeling vulnerable.

"It's too soon for me to feel any safer," said Cheverly resident Oliver Smith, whose son, a county police officer, was killed in the line of duty in 1997.

High-profile crimes such as the fatal shooting of an 18-month-old child in a car seat in the fall and the Christmas Eve beating of a parishioner outside his church in College Park have also reinforced the sense of vulnerability.

"I don't know what to make of it," Forestville resident Pat Johnson, a member of another of the citizen advisory councils, said of the crime reductions. Johnson said she was convinced that the county would backslide on crime as the economy worsens.

From 2007 to 2008, homicides declined a little more than 6 percent in Prince George's, contributing to the 21 percent decline since 2005. Over the same three-year period in the District, homicides dropped 4 percent, from 194 to 186.

Last year, the county recorded an 8.9 percent drop in violent crime from 2007 and a 3.9 percent decline in overall crime.

Acting Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton, whom Johnson has credited with invigorating the department in recent months, said last year's figures showed that the county's approach is working. Still, he pointed out areas of concern: Burglaries were up 10 percent in 2008 from 2007. Commercial and residential robberies were up 7 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Hylton said he is employing new technology to further curb violence in the coming year. He now gets crime updates every 15 minutes based on 911 calls.

"We pay attention every day," he said. "Crime is evaluated every 15 minutes, and we adjust our resources and our plan accordingly. Because of our rapid reaction, we have and will continue to manage the crime rate."

Police did not break down the 2008 crime numbers geographically.