Baltimore Crime Beat: Crime drops in Prince George's County - Baltimore crime news: Police, courts and police stories in the city and central Maryland

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January 13, 2009

Crime drops in Prince George's County

Next to Baltimore, Prince George's County has always been considered one of the most dangerous jurisidictions in the state. Today, the Washinton Post has a story on how the county has made a turnaround, announcing drops in crime for the third consecutive year.

Final numbers for Baltimore's 2008 are not yet available, though slayings dropped fro 282 to 234. Stats from mid-December show drops in the city in shootings, rapes and car thefts but rises in assaualts, burlgaries and thefts from cars. At the same time, arrests in many categories were down last year, including for homicide, larceny and assaults.

This year in Baltimore is not starting out well, with a dozen slayings in the first two weeks. See the Baltimore Sun's homicide map.

A week before Prince George's released their numbers, officials in Montgomery County announced a 7 percent decrease.

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About Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.

Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on Twitter