Metro is on track to see a 15 percent jump in serious crime on the system this year, based on statistics from January through July. The spike is fueled largely by an uptick in robberies, defined as taking something by force or intimidation, which are on pace to climb 36 percent in 2008. Larcenies, defined as thefts of personal property that do not involve force or intimidation, are on course to grow 14 percent. A large portion of the crimes are “snatch and grabs,” in which thieves whisk iPods or cell phones out of riders’ hands and dart out of the train as the doors are closing, Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Jeff Delinski said. Pickpockets and violent thefts fill the remainder of the list, he said. Any spike in crime is noteworthy, but the Metro crime rate remains low. The system, which sees an average of 1.2 million daily bus and rail riders, averages three serious crimes a day. The majority of those crimes happen in the rail system, officials said. Statistics show that Maryland Metro stations have the highest crime rate, particularly at New Carrollton, Largo Town Center, College Park, Addison Road, Suitland and Southern Avenue, which each have seen 30 or more crimes since January. There have been 36 incidents at the Vienna Orange Line station in Virginia and 25 at Gallery Place in the District during the same period. As crime grows, police are stepping up enforcement, Delinski said. There has been a 10 percent increase in arrests, a 22 percent increase in citations and a 24 percent increase in fare-evasion tickets this year, he said.
