Montgomery County Police Crime
Statistics Show While Murder Was Up 11%,
There was a Decrease in Crime for First Six Months of 2004
 

The following information is from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics for the first six months of 2004 as compared to the same period in 2003.

Part I Crimes Decreased by 14.4%
Murder: increased 11.1% (from 9 to 10)
Rape: increased 8.5% (from 59 to 64)
Robbery: decreased 29.6% (from 500 to 352)
Aggravated Assault: decreased 2.4% (from 494 to 482)
Burglary: decreased 10.7% (from 1,923 to 1,717)
Larceny: decreased 12.2% (from 8,670 to 7,616)
Auto Theft: decreased 28.8% (from 1,842 to 1,312)

Part II Crimes Decreased by 1.7%
Part II crimes are defined as minor assaults, arson, forgery-counterfeiting, bad checks, embezzlement, stolen property, vandalism, weapons offenses, prostitution, sex offenses, Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS) violations, gambling, family offenses, juvenile offenses, liquor law violations, disorderly conduct, suicide, and non-traffic offenses.

Total Crime Decreased by 6.7%
An analysis of the crime statistics for the first six months of 2004 includes the following:

Murder up 11.1%:
Of the 10 homicides that have occurred in the first six months of this year:
• 4 were committed by an acquaintance, 3 were committed by a relative, 1 was committed by a stranger, and two remain under investigation
• 4 were domestic in nature, 3 were related to non-domestic disputes, 2 involved suspected drug or gang activity, and 1 was robbery-related.
• 9 were committed by means of a deadly weapon (5 by firearm, 4 by knife), and 1 was the result of a beating by a group of suspects
• 8 cases were closed by arrest (80% closure rate)

Rape up 8.5%:
There were 84 reports of rapes in the first six months of 2004. Fourteen reports were unfounded resulting in 70 actual rapes during the period. Of the 70 reported rapes:
• 11 (15.7%) occurred in prior years (between 1993 and 2003)
• 44 (62.9%) victims were adults, and 26 (37.1%) were juveniles
• 55 (78.6%) victims knew their attackers (36 were victimized by acquaintances; 7 by boyfriends/ex-boyfriends; 6 by husbands/ex-husbands; 6 by other relatives)
• 14 (20%) victims were raped by suspects that they did not know (10 by strangers; 4 by persons who the victim had just met and willingly accompanied
• In 1 (1.4%) case, the victim/offender relationship could not be determined
• Alcohol and/or drug use was present in 20 (28.6%) of the incidents

(Although the attached table indicates that 64 rapes occurred, that is not an error. Six rapes that were reported in previous years were determined to be unfounded during the first six months of this year. Under UCR reporting guidelines, those 6 cases must be deducted from the total number of rapes that occurred during the period prior to sending the totals to the FBI. The above breakdown, however, is based on all 70 rape reports that occurred during the period in order to present a more accurate picture to the public).

Robbery down 29.6%:
• Commercial robberies decreased by 23.6% (from 72 to 55), and non-commercial robberies decreased by 30.6% (from 428 to 297).
• 24% of all robberies were committed with a firearm, and 17.3% were committed with a knife or edged weapon
• 84.4% were street robberies (7.5% of which were carjackings); 15.6% were commercial robberies
• 2.5% were bank robberies
down 30.8% from 2003 (from 13 to 9)
4 (44.4%) were closed by arrest

Aggravated Assault down 2.4%:
• 36.6% of the incidents were committed by strangers
• 32.6% involved a knife or other cutting instrument; 16.1% involved a firearm or bb-gun
• 29.2% involved a domestic relationship

Burglary down 10.7%:
• 67.6% were residential, 29.2% commercial, and 3.1% were schools
• 29.1% of the commercial burglaries involved office buildings; 14.9% of the residential burglaries involved garages or sheds
• 23.4% of the burglaries did not require forcible entry

Larcenies down 12.2%:
• Thefts from vehicles dropped 19.8% (4,082 to 3,273)
• Shoplifting dropped 4.3% (1,279 to 1,224)
• All other thefts dropped 13.1% (1,295 to 1,125)

Vehicle Thefts down 28.8%:
30.2% of the thefts occurred in the 3rd District and 22.3% occurred in the 4th District. The 5th District had the fewest incidents of auto theft (9.1%).

Motor Vehicle Collisions:
• The total number of fatal collisions increased from 23 to 29 (26%). Fatalities in alcohol-related collisions increased from 6 to 8 (33%).
• The total number of collisions resulting in injury decreased from 2,747 to 2,602 (-5.2%). Alcohol-related injury collisions were essentially unchanged from 214 to 213.
• Fatalities from motor vehicle collisions increased from 27 to 37 (37%).
• Pedestrian fatalities increased from 3 to 7 (133%).
• There were no fatalities to bicycle riders during this period, and none during the same period in 2003. Fatalities to motorcycle riders decreased from 2 to 1 (50%).
• Injuries to pedestrians decreased from 208 to 186 (-10.5%).
• Injuries to bicycle riders decreased from 40 to 36 (-10%).
Injuries to motorcycle riders increased from 20 to 44 (120%).

In making today’s announcement, Chief Manger, who assumed command of the Montgomery County Police Department on February 1, 2004, stated, “Much of the credit for these decreases in crime goes to the patrol officers and detectives who have been targeting robbery and auto theft locations. We are continuing to concentrate our efforts in areas plagued by higher incidents of crime. I continue to be concerned about the increase in fatal collisions. I believe it is an indication that drunk drivers are still a serious threat to the safety of everyone on our roads.”

See Crime Stats:
Crime Stats