At the midpoint of 2012, the homicide rate in Prince George’s County is down an astounding 48 percent — part of a welcome drop in overall crime and a far cry from January 2011, when 13 people were murdered during a 13-day orgy of random bloodletting. Last July, the county had 56 criminal homicides on the books. This July, it’s 26. This is enormous progress and allays widespread fears that a simultaneous drop in murders in the District of Columbia merely meant that violent criminals were setting up shop outside the city limits.
Last year, there were 97 homicides in Prince George’s compared with 108 in the District. But the number of murders in D.C. was down dramatically from the 132 reported in 2010, and the lowest in nearly 50 years. Meanwhile, Prince George’s was trending in the opposite direction, with four more slayings in 2011 than 2010.
In a remarkable six-month turnaround, Prince George’s is now on track to reduce that number to under 60 by year’s end — or less than half of the 134 murders in 2004, when the national economy was still running at full steam. It also indicates homicide is decreasing in both jurisdictions during a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty. Anyway you slice it, that’s great news.
Much of the credit goes to Police Chief Mark Magaw for focusing on known offenders in Riverdale, Langley Park, Suitland, Glassmanor and Hillcrest Heights. Ex-cons were told that cops would be watching them and picking them up for questioning if any violent crimes were committed within a three-mile radius. This is smart policing since the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention has identified 1,200 of the 55,000 Maryland residents on parole or probation most likely to reoffend.
But offenders were also offered help ranging from food stamps to job training programs to aid them in making successful transitions back into the community.
Credit also goes to County Executive Rushern Baker for his Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative, a tandem program that focuses county resources in high-crime areas while the police do their job. Prince George’s will never realize its full economic potential until it gets its crime problem under control. While there’s no guarantee the current positive trend will continue for the next six months, it’s at least a very good start.
