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Local crime decreasing, according to official statistics
In fact, we are living in the safest Takoma Park in a decade.
by Elissa Petruzzi
Nilanthi Samaranayake walks in the center of the street at night, after the buses have stopped running, avoiding the dark sidewalks as she heads toward her Takoma Park home.
But the 29-year-old Baltimore native isn't concerned about the local crime rate, and considers her decision to move to Takoma Park seven years ago a good one.
In fact, Samaranayake is living in the safest Takoma Park in a decade. Takoma Park police have held the crime rate relatively steady for the first half of 2005, after achieving a ten-year violent and property crime low in 2004. The police department decreased crime by 11 percent in 2004, according to crime index in the Uniform Crime Report, an annual compilation of violent and property crime.
The only significant increase in crime reported in the first half of 2005 is an about 20 percent jump in larceny, up to 235 incidents from 194 in the first six months of 2004, according to documents obtained from the Takoma Park police department. Larceny is defined by Takoma Park Chief of Police Cynthia Creamer as, "essentially the taking of property in which no force, violence or fraud is used, which includes shoplifting, purse snatching, theft from auto, bike thefts, etc."
The Takoma Park larceny rate is now comparable to that reported by the Hyattsville Police Department. Hyattsville is located in Prince George's County and has a similar population to Takoma Park.
To help combat larceny, the Takoma Park Community-Oriented Policing Team is available for home and business security surveys and crime safety meetings for those living in apartments, according to Carol Bannerman, police affairs specialist. "We're trying to share information with people, and encouraging them - when possible - to protect their property," Bannerman said.
The local police force has maintained the low crime rate despite a staffing shortage that has plagued the city for several years. Local cities are competing to retain police officers while offering competing salaries.
"There are fewer qualified young people wanting to go into policing while there is a greater demand for them in this geographic area," said Takoma Park Public Safety Citizens Advisory Committee Chairman Andy Kelemen, attributing the staffing shortage to supply and demand. "I do not have any answers to this problem," he added, while commending Creamer on her success while dealing with an understaffed police department.
Seth Grimes, of Sustainable Takoma, who is running for mayor this November, endorsed increasing police salaries, saying "pay increases ... won't cost all that much."
"We may need to weigh competing needs, but I know where I'm likely to come down if the choice is between boosting police retention and building a million dollar deck to cover the Community Center parking pit," Grimes said.
Mayor Kathy Porter emphasized that, despite the understaffing, Takoma Park still has more officers per capita than the area served by Montgomery County police.
"A shortage of officers is a regional problem not unique to Takoma Park," she said. "We are fortunate to have a police force that takes pride in responding quickly to 911 calls and meeting regularly with neighborhood groups--all of which helps keep crime down."
Although crime continues to be an issue, it hasn't discouraged others like Samaranayake from moving to the area. Fred Bentley and his wife moved to Takoma Park three months ago, and while he avoids walking his dog or returning from the metro on foot late at night, he credited a group of neighbors with watching out for his new property. "That lessens our concern," Bentley said.
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