In 2023, overall crime in Montgomery County rose for the third year in a row.
According to a report to county council, auto thefts jumped 131%, and carjackings rose almost 30%. Crimes against people increased 6.6%, and property crimes increased 11%.
Drug offenses fell by almost 14%. However, youth fatal overdoses rose 9% and nonfatal overdoses jumped by 132%. Youth Fatal overdoses increased by 9%.
Homicides rose from 22 to 29 during 2023. Firearms were involved in more than 60% of those murders.
Rape and other sex offenses dropped by 9%.
According to the report, 99 firearms were seized during traffic incidents.
“The increase is pretty bad,” noted Susan Fraag, council legislative analyst during Monday morning’s public safety committee meeting.
Currently, there are 128 vacancies in the patrol department, according to Police Chief Marcus Jones. He also noted there are 23 participants in the current recruiting class.
The department is dealing with the vacancies in several ways. It is recruiting retired officers to work on a contract basis, freeing up some patrol officers to remain on the streets, Jones said.
Technology also has helped. 500 police vehicles are equipped with automated license plate readers and other readers are located in mobile security trailers. These assist officers in locating vehicles that were involved in felonies, Jones said.
A new drone program, working in Silver Spring and Wheaton, enables fewer officers to be involved in an investigation as a drone can more accurately and quickly locate a perpetrator. Also, video from the drones let the officers know in real time if there are weapons.
Jones criticized a relatively recent Maryland child protection law that prohibits police officers from interrogating juveniles in a custodial situation without allowing them to have an attorney present.
“I think it’s the biggest hurdle we have right now,” Jones told members of the committee. Without being able to ask questions, the options for obtaining information to prevent crimes drop, he said. “That puts up behind the eight ball a little bit.”
When speaking about a rise in street car rallies, where multiple participants do wheelies and disrupt traffic, Jones said the public should be aware that many of those rallies never take place, because police received information and worked together with neighboring forces to have a large presence at the site before the rally even starts.
Jones pointed to Progress Place on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring as a location his officers are called to frequently. In January, the department received 121 calls and in only 18 instances a crisis response team was available.
