Fox Report Yields Inaccurate Picture of Crime in Hyattsville
Overall crime trending down in West Hyattsville, citywide, according to latest annual numbers.
Burglaries in Hyattsville in 2012
The bright red patch to the right is centered on the intersection of 29th Avenue and Lancer Drive. Other hotspots include UTC, Post Park Apartments, and Kirkwood Apartments.
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Did news of this weekend's shooting in West Hyattsville make you think twice about living here?
While other news stations were content to keep their coverage of Sunday's drive-by shooting on Hamilton Street to brief items, WTTG Fox 5 dug deep into their bag of metaphors and produced this breathless piece of journalism on the shooting which left two people injured.
The anchor introduces the shooting, which saw 19 shots fired, as something which resembled the "wild west". Reporter Karen Gray Houston went on to say it was like something out of a movie.
A bit hyperbolic? To be sure. One wonders if cinematic metaphors are appropriate to describe attempted murder. Close readers might also note that I have, in the past, referred to West Hyattsville as the wild west, though that was in a political context.
But Houston's report also contained an assertion which is factually incorrect. Toward the end of the segment, Houston introduces a Rommel Sandino, who she said "noted crime in the neighborhood is going up."
Actually, both Wards 4 and Ward 5 have seen overall decreases in the number of crimes reported over the last two years, continuing a multi-year trend being observed citywide, according to the most recent statistics from the city police. The driving factor in that overall crime reduction is a decrease in thefts reported in both wards.
Bucking that trend, however, are assaults (the category under which this weekend's shooting would be classified), which last year rose 10 percent citywide from 94 in 2011 to 104 in 2012. The increase was seen in three of the city's five wards, and was most pronounced in Wards 4 and 5, which saw 15 and 35 percent increases in the number of assaults last year.
There were also much reported increases in residential burglaries which were seen only in Wards 4 and 5 last year, whereas the rest of the city saw a slight decrease in the number of residential burglaries.
Jim Groves
11:59 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
If we are in Prince Georges County, then it must be the wild west. 19 bullets being shot is probably more bullets shot over the last 5 years or so in the City of Hyattsville. Still too many. It was 4am and the gas station was most likely a stop through rather than a destination. So how that puts Hyattsville in a bad light I'm not exactly sure. If a meteor hit in Hyattsville, would the headline blame Hyattsville?
John
1:22 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Thank you! I especially liked "This area is no stranger to crime, just a few moments after we arrived an alarm began going off at a furniture store across the street." That report was ridiculous.
BigDan
5:20 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Hyattsville is a deathtrap. I'm just about paid off in my debts and am just about out of here. Can't wait to get away from the cheerleaders like Jim who don't realize there are much better and much safer areas in much more decent counties around here.
The key thing in this article is "reported" crimes. See, the corrupt hyattsville police try and talk you out of a police report. My neighbor had his shed broken into and his lawnmower stolen...First the cops tried to talk him out of making a report, then because he is hispanic made threats of checking immigration status on him. (They were quite unaware that not only is he legal but has been living here for over 30 years).
I can't even begin to imagine how much crime goes unreported because the cops like to use that on folks.
The metaphor "Meteor hitting hyattsville" is idiotic at best. I bet if Mr. Groves lived at Three Mile Island he'd try to spin living there in some way.
The other media outlets didn't give this story much mention because it's Hyattsville and it's NOT surprising of this crime plagued city.
Michael Theis
5:54 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I think we all realize that you don't like living here, Dan. But depopulation is not a viable strategy for addressing the multitude of woes of local government. While you may have the economic liberty to shortly relocate yourself, many, for a variety of reasons, are committed to living in the Hyattsville area and Prince George's County. So, I pose the question to you, like Jim did; what are your ideas for improving our civic sphere? The residents of whomever buys your home once you move on would be interested to know.