Decreases in homicides and carjackings led the way as Prince George’s crime rates continue to significantly decline this year, county officials said Tuesday.
Violent crime has dropped 14 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same time in 2005, and property crime has shrunk 13 percent, which officials said were the largest decreases in the state.
The drop is larger among some specific crimes, with homicides going down 28 percent (128 to 92), for example, and carjacking went down 37 percent (565 to 356).
“Oh yeah, I have seen a big difference this year,” said Elsie Jacobs, the president of the Suitland Park Civic Association. “In Suitland, everyone was getting shot. People used to die just about every day.”
County Police Chief Melvin High said the drop in crime stemmed from a larger police force with about 400 more officers than three years ago who can spend more time patrolling communities.
The force conducted 70,658 traffic stops in the first nine months of 2006, officials said, a 93-percent increase over the same period last year.
Additional money has also allowed police to purchase new technology to track crimes, generating data that guides where officers are deployed.
“Obviously we have benefited from our growth,” he said.
The county’s budget this year includes $212 million for the police, $45 million more than two years ago.
“When we look at crime going up across the country, it is encouraging to see we are going in the right direction,” said County Executive Jack Johnson.
County officials also gave credit to community policing programs that encourage residents to actively keep their neighborhoods safe.
In one community, county Homeland Security and Public Safety Chief Vernon Herron said, a resident will knock on his neighbors’ front doors if he sees they have left their keys in the cars.
Something as simple as remembering your keys, Herron said, has helped vehicle decrease thefts 20 percent so far this year.
The force has also targeted a one half-mile area around the county’s border with the District, where vehicle theft has been cut in half and burglaries have dropped by a third.
