Fewer Thefts, Smash & Grabs Drive Crime Rate Down

Crime for the Borderstan crime reporting area¹ in January 2010 plummeted by 43% from January 2009. The overall decrease was due primarily to sizeable decreases in thefts (down 41%) and thefts from autos or “smash and grabs” (down 66%). All statistics are from the MPD crime database.

All property crimes decreased 49% from the previous January. However, the number of violent crimes remained almost exactly the same: 9 in January 2010 compared to 10 in January 2009, a 10% decrease. There were  decreases in both robberies and gun crimes while the number of assaults was unchanged.

The number of robberies in the Borderstan crime area decreased slightly year-over-year from 8 in January 2009 to 7 in January of this year. The number of gun crimes (robberies and assaults committed with a gun) was also down: 6 gun crimes in January of last year compared to 3 in January of this year.

Longer-term trends show that the number of violent crimes for the month of January over the past four years, 2007-2010, have remained almost exactly the same: 11 in 2007, 10 in 2008, 10 in 2009 and 9 in 2010.

The number of property crimes had risen in January, although not dramatically, between 2007 and 2009–before dropping dramatically in January of this year. Property crimes in January: 52 in 2007, 55 in 2008, 60 in 2009 and 31 in 2010. The dramatic decreases year over year in January were in thefts and thefts from autos.

In January 2009 there were 17 thefts in Borderstan, which dropped to 10 last month. There were 32 thefts from autos in January 2009, which dropped to only 11 in January 2010. The number of burglaries was also down year-over-year from 6 in January 2009 to 4 last month.

Total Crime in January, 2007 – 2010

• 63 crimes in January 2007
• 65 crimes in January 2008
• 70 crimes in January 2009
• 40 crimes in January 2010 (43% decrease from 2009)

Detailed statistics below the fold.

Borderstan¹ Crime Stats for January 2007 – 2010

Crime Type	2007	2008	2009	2010
Homicide	0	0	0	0 (NC)
Sex Abuse	2	0	0	0 (NC)
Robbery Excluding Gun	5	6	4	6 (+50%)
Robbery With Gun	3	1	4	1 (-75%)
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon Excluding Gun	1	3	2	2 (NC)
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon With Gun	0	0	0	0 (NC)
Total Violent Crime	11	10	10	9 (-10%)
Burglary	5	7	6	4 (-33%)
Theft	23	15	17	10 (-41%)
Theft From Auto	20	30	32	11 (-66%)
Stolen Auto	4	3	5	6 (+20%)
Arson	0	0	0	0 (NC)
Total Property Crime	52	55	60	31 (-49%)
Total Crime	63	65	70	40 (-43%)

¹ The Borderstan crime reporting area (see three maps above) covers a circular area that radiates 1,500 feet from 15th and Corcoran Streets NW–an area that runs  from 13th Street/Logan Circle west to New Hampshire Avenue/half way between 17th and 18th Streets, and from Rhode Island Avenue/O Street  in the south to T/Caroline Streets in the north. The Borderstan crime reporting area includes parts of Police Service Area (PSA) 208 (west of 15th) and PSA 307 (east of 15th), with a sliver of PSA 305 in the northeast.