County grows, crime is flat

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009

Overall crime numbers in Charles County held nearly even in 2008 when compared to the previous year, inching up less than one-half of 1 percent, according to statistics released Wednesday by the sheriff's office.

Charles County Sheriff Rex W. Coffey called the numbers "phenomenal," considering the poor economy and the increasing local population.

Charles County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Diane Richardson said the Charles County Department of Planning and Growth Management estimated the county population in 2008 at 147,840, up from the 140,444 estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007, an increase of 5.3 percent.

"We are really happy about what we've been able to do," Coffey said. "The bottom line is the numbers bear it out."

In total, there were 5,107 crimes committed in the county last year and 5,089 recorded in 2007, an increase of 18, according to the report. Incidents of violent crime fell about 6.1 percent, while property crimes rose roughly 1.6 percent, the sheriff's office reported.

Coffey attributed the results to high police visibility and a good record of closing cases.

"Our reputation is that if you come here and commit a crime, we're going to catch you and put you in jail," he said.

The number of rapes sank 21.2 percent last year when compared to the previous year, while incidents of robbery and aggravated assault declined by 5.1 and 6.7 percent respectively, the report stated. The number of homicides more than doubled, with 10 reported in 2008 and four in 2007.

Coffey said most of the homicides involved people who knew each other, pointing to the murder of Jessica Angela Murray, 18, by her stepfather at their Waldorf home in September. Christopher George Murray, the woman's stepfather, committed suicide after shooting the teenager, police reported.

"How are you going to prevent that?" Coffey said.

Incidents of car theft dropped by 11.6 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, the report stated.

Richardson credited police initiatives for playing a role in the decrease and mentioned tag scanners, which are cameras that read license plates and identify stolen vehicles.

"Utilizing the tag scanners allows us to recover stolen cars quickly," she said, adding that often, an arrest happens along with the discovery of the vehicle. "It helps us reduce the rate of recidivism."

The report showed that burglaries declined by 0.4 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Thefts rose by 4.1 percent, from 3,049 in 2007 to 3,173 in 2008, according to the sheriff's office.

Coffey attributed the hike in thefts partially to a struggling economy.

"A fair amount of the theft numbers are shoplifting," he said. A trend in catalytic converter and precious metal thefts also contributed to the rise, Coffey said.

Richardson pointed to the fact that even though the county population rose by thousands over the past decade, the number of crimes in 1998 was greater than the number of crimes recorded for 2008.

"Normally more people means more crime," Coffey said. He said his goal is to "keep it up."

"Every one of us takes this personally 'cause this is our county," Coffey said.

brodgers@somdnews.com