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Crime & Safety

Silver Spring Remains the Highest Crime Area in Montgomery County

The district contained the most homicides in 2010; eight of the county's 17 were committed there.

Despite a decrease in reported crime, District 3—which encompasses the greater Silver Spring area, including Colesville, downtown Silver Spring, White Oak, Burtonsville and parts of Wheaton—remained the highest crime area of Montgomery County in 2010, according to a year-end crime report released Friday by Montgomery County Police. 

The district also contained the most homicides; eight of the county’s 17 were committed there. Compared to 2009, there were only three homicides in the district, marking a major increase over a one-year period.

The Silver Spring district has had the highest number of reported crimes in the county every year since at least 2007, according to available police records. Police officials said it was difficult to cite one single reason for the volume of reported crime. 

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County wide, overall crime dropped by 7.5 percent from 2009 to 2010, but homicides increased by 41 percent, from 12 in 2009 to 17 in 2010. There were 62,944 reported crimes in 2010, compared to 68,026 in 2009. District 4, which includes the greater Wheaton area, Aspen Hill, Olney and parts of Silver Spring, had the second highest number of reported crime. District 6, which includes the greater Gaithersburg area, came in third.

To combat the persistent criminal activity in District 3, last month the Montgomery County Council approved a $2.34 million police enhancement plan, as part of its Fiscal Year 2012 budget, which will add 26 police officers over the next year.

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Two sergeants and 10 officers will be added in Silver Spring’s Central Business District, where police say “a consistent criminal element has emerged,” and 16 officers will be added in the northeastern region of District 3, also referred to as the “Ida Sector.” 

The Ida Sector includes the area along the Rt. 29 corridor beginning in White Oak and ending in Burtonsville. It’s considered by county police to be the highest crime area in the county.

“The Ida sector, which is in the Northeastern part of the Silver Spring district, has the highest sustained level of crime when compared to all three [District 3] sectors. The Department advises this is the highest crime area in Montgomery County. The level and nature of the serious crime in the Ida sector requires continuous proactive policing and the area's crime rate will not be reduced by the current staffing level,” an April 14 County Public Safety Committee memorandum states. 

A downtown Silver Spring pub owner welcomes the extra police presence.

“There’s definitely an edgy element around at night. Having more police officers at night, I think, would ensure the continued growth of downtown Silver Spring and hopefully keep the area in the direction that it’s going,” said Greg Whelan, co-owner of McGinty’s Public House on Ellsworth Drive.  

A local safety advocacy group that works closely with police said they were happy to hear about the addition of police officers, but were concerned about an uptick in specific crime categories.

“Glad to hear that the council approved the additional police for downtown Silver Spring and for the east county area and to see crime was reduced county-wide in 2010,” said Tony Hausner, co-founder of Safe Silver Spring.

“At the same time, there is cause for concern that certain categories increased during this time period, such as murders and burglaries,” he added.   

The $2.34 million safety enhancement program is just one part of a larger $232 million budget recently approved for the police department for Fiscal Year 2012.

While all nine of the county’s School Resource Officer (SRO) positions were potentially on the chopping block during pre-budget negotiations, the county retained six. SRO’s are trained police officers that service high schools and some middle schools throughout the county. The Long Branch, Olney and east county satellite police stations, also believed to be eliminated, were also spared.

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