The Montgomery County police have solved fewer than a quarter of the robberies that occurred in the last fiscal year, the county’s worst closure rate in five years, new data show.
In fiscal 2011, 824 robberies occurred, but the police only closed 201, or 24 percent of them, Montgomery County’s data analysis arm CountyStat, reported Tuesday. Some of those 201 robberies may have happened before the year began, however, since the police continue to close unsolved cases from previous years. That means the number of unsolved cases from fiscal 2011 is likely higher than the numbers indicate.
The closure rate is the worst in five years, even as the number of robberies has been dropping since it peaked in 2006 at 1,166. In fiscal 2010, 994 robberies occurred, and the police closed 320, or 32 percent of them.
| Montgomery County Police closure rates | |||||
| Fiscal 2007 | Fiscal 2008 | Fiscal 2009 | Fiscal 2010 | Fiscal 2011 | |
| Homicide | 80% | 83% | 88% | 63% | 88% |
| Rape | 59% | 55% | 50% | 67% | 66% |
| Robbery | 33% | 34% | 30% | 32% | 24% |
| Fiscal 2010 | Fiscal 2011 | ||||
| Total offenses | Total closed | Total offenses | Total closed | ||
| Homicide | 16 | 10 | 17 | 15 | |
| Rape | 114 | 76 | 127 | 52 | |
| Robbery | 994 | 320 | 824 | 201 | |
| Source: Montgomery County CountyStat | |||||
Compared with neighboring Prince George’s County, though, Montgomery County fares well. Between January and September 2010, Prince George’s County police closed 15.5 percent of its robberies, according to a May memo from Prince George’s County Auditor David Van Dyke.
According to Montgomery Police Chief Tom Manger, its closure rate is also higher than the national average.
Still, some robberies are difficult to close because they are ” ‘opportunity crimes’ and happen very quickly, often the victim never sees the suspect,” CountyStat wrote in its report.
Increasing the size of the police force would help the Police Department close more cases, Manger said. When a location becomes a crime hot spot, the department has to shift officers, leaving one area with a smaller police presence.
For this reason, Manger said he will request money for additional officers in the county’s fiscal 2013 budget, though he would not say how many officers the department needs. Between 2008 and 2010, the department cut 108 officers, according to data from the FBI.
While robberies and most other crimes are falling, burglaries are climbing. Between 2009 and 2010, the number of burglaries increased by 212, or 6 percent, according to police data.
Manger attributed the county’s rising number of burglaries to a high number of repeat offenders.
