More criminals in Prince George’s County are getting away with murder and other crimes as the county’s police department deals with an experience gap, Chief Melvin High told the County Council this week.
Both department officials and County Executive Jack Johnson have touted the 500 officers hired since 2003 as a primary driver in the county’s declining crime rate.
But bringing in the fresh blood as older, more experienced officers either retire or are promoted, has made it more difficult for the department to solve crimes, High said.
Since 2005 the homicide case closure rate dropped from 61.6 percent of cases closed to 46.6 percent in the first 10 months of 2007. That places the county well below the national homicide case closure rate of 60.7 percent.
“This is attributed to multiple changes in command and the promotion of several seasoned officers … and significant turnover in the last two years,” High said.
Homicide currently has 11 investigators with less than two years of experience.
And added to the deficiency in experience are staffing shortages, High said.
“Low staffing results in investigators spending the majority of their time responding to fresh cases,” which had a big effect on the closure rate last year and the prior year when a spike in homicides in the first quarter of 2007 spread resources out, he said. A year’s closure rates tend to improve over time as cases from prior years are solved.
Meanwhile, High reported that the department is trying to shore up a $3 million spending gap by slicing overtime, deferring recruitment classes and leaving vacant nearly 30 civilian positions.
And although the chief and Johnson have said the ending of overtime except for emergency situations won’t cause crime to rise, High attributed the declining crime rate to “increased staffing and the utilization of overtime to concentrate police presence in hot spots.”
