Police Hope More Patrols Keep Murders Down
Hoping to avoid a repeat of 2011's violent beginning, in which 16 people were murdered last January, county police are putting more feet on the ground.
Hoping extra boots on the ground can help keep homicides down, the Prince George's County Police Department is kicking off the new year with increased patrols focused on Hyattsville, College Park and surrounding communities in District 1, as well as District 3 and District 4, according to a report published yesterday on Gazette.net.
The goal is to prevent what occurred in the first half of January 2011, when 13 people fell victim to homicide in Prince Georges County. By the end of January 2011, another 3 murders raised the homicide count to 16. In comparison, there have only been three murders in Prince George's County, so far this month.
There was a total of 106 homicides in Prince Georges County, according to the blog Gory Prince George's.
However, the overall violent crime rate decreased nearly 12 percent in 2011. The property crime rate also declined a little more than 10 percent.
The increased patrols will continue through the end of January.
Jim Groves
11:30 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Can I just say that I SOOOOO don't like this headline - Police Hope More Patrols Keep Murders Down - How about "Murders Down in County but Police Increase Presence" or something a little more positive. If I'm going to move to a community, I'm searching the town on-line and reading local papers. If I see this headline I'm rethinking about moving to the area! We don't need sensationalist journalism. I'm not saying to downplay the fact that there are murders in the County (how about even saying "County Police" so people know it's not the Hyattsville Police?), but the bigger story is that the murder rate dropped in the County.
Michael Theis
11:40 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
That's a legitimate point. I'll try to take more care in framing the issues in the headlines.
Emil Farkwarp
2:20 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
"The increased patrols will continue through the end of January."
Why? What happens in Februiary, the killers take vacation?