Anne Arundel Police Chief James Teare Sr. manages more than 1,000 sworn and civilian members, who serve one of the most populated jurisdictions in the nation.
More than a half-million people live in the county, and calls for assistance surpassed 230,000 last year.
Teare, 44, was named chief in December 2006 after serving as one of the department?s two deputy chiefs and commander of its Field Operations Bureau.
He spoke with The Examiner about Anne Arundel?s recent crime trends and how the department is working to make residents safer.
What crimes have been demanding your attention?
Although violent crime is down 2.4 percent, we have experienced an increase in property crime, particularly thefts from autos and shoplifting.
We see the increases in these types of crimes in general-population areas such as shopping areas and business parks, as the criminal element is able to more easily blend in and prey on crimes of opportunity.
In 2007, there were 1,439 auto thefts in the county, and in over 20 percent the vehicles had their keys in themat the time of the theft.
There were 1,168 thefts that included precious metals ? and I?m not talking about rings and gems. Scrap metal has become precious.
In 2007, more than 500 catalytic converters were reported stolen in the county. County parks have been targeted for the copper wiring in their lights, resulting in at least one park not being able to hold athletic practices and games after dark because it has become too costly to replace the wiring.
Aluminum bleachers have been stolen; police radio towers have been targeted for their copper components; and schools under construction have been targeted for copper wiring and copper plumbing.
Cemeteries have had brass urns, grave markers and memorial plaques stolen and sold for scrap.
Light poles have been stolen from city streets; beer kegs stolen from restaurants; and now the metal biohazard boxes are being stolen from medical lab companies ? [all for] scrap.
Why are catalytic converter thefts such a problem?
We have no way of identifying which catalytic converter belongs to what car.
So even if a suspect takes it to a scrap dealer, there is difficulty because there are no identifying marks ? like you would have with a VIN number ? that would attach that catalytic converter to a certain car.
It?s also very expensive and debilitating for the crime victims who have to pay for damages.
What are you doing about it?
County Executive [John R.] Leopold and Maryland police chiefs are trying to get legislation to have a law passed that would require scrap dealers to collect information from people ? at the site ? who drop off scrap metal … so we would have the names of people who sell them to scrap yards.
What about burglaries?
In 2007, we saw an increase of about 81 cases, which equates to 2.8 percent.
We are taking an approach to remain dynamic, because we can?t wait for the Uniform Crime Report [to identify crime trends].
If we start to see emerging crime trends, we rely on citizens to be engaged in a partnership with the police department and county government to report ? through 911 or non-emergency numbers ? suspicious activity, nuisance behavior and criminal conduct. Then we develop … covert and overt operations to eliminate the emerging crime trend.
How many of the breaking-and-entering cases did you solve last year?
There were 2,998 in 2007.
We don?t have all our statistics together yet, [but] we have made 617 arrests this year for burglaries.
The difficult thing is that one burglar can commit hundreds of burglaries.
One criminal can do numerous damage to safety in a particular neighborhood.
And if they?re mobile, they?re able to stay ahead of the community out there watching and the police.
Who?s committing these burglaries?
All walks of life.
They do range in age, [but] a lot of it is youthful crime.
Most burglaries are committed by males under the age of 25, but that doesn?t mean other people don?t do it.
What do they do with stolen property?
We have seen a reduction in juvenile crimes, but we still see juveniles committing burglaries and taking items such as video games and jewelry [to] pawn shops.
Or it can be street sales from the trunk of a car.
We find that a lot of violators have drug or addiction problems, and drug use is more closely linked to robberies and property crime than to violent crime.
If you have someone with a drug addiction and they need to supply their habit, they?re looking for a way to get easy cash ? from vehicles with property in them.
Is white-collar crime a problem?
I can?t characterize it as a significant problem in Anne Arundel County, but I do recognize it as a regional and national problem.
When we talk about white-collar crime, we have potential identity theft and scams on the trusting public.
A lot of it deals with the elderly, who are very trusting and become victims of easy money-making schemes.
White-collar crimes are difficult to investigate, because a lot of them are international [and] done on computers.
How do you combat white-collar crime?
We tell the public that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
We invest quite a bit of training and effort into one of our criminal investigators in computer crime.
We also see white-collar crime in fraud and embezzlement, and sometimes that can take a lot of time to investigate, because these involve schemes where someone is using techniques to extract money out of businesses, and we have to decipher the method of the theft and attach it to a particular person.
What is the case you are most proud of solving?
Every day I?m impressed by our officers and their tenacity in going after criminals.
But I?d say, it was when Alexander Wayne Watson Jr. pleaded guilty [Aug. 16, 2007] to three of the highest profile murder cases ever in Anne Arundel County.
He was truly a serial murderer.
