In the first six months of 2009, crime in Baltimore County continued a three-year decrease, Police Chief Jim Johnson announced Tuesday at a news conference.

“These are very, very good numbers,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that from January to June there were 2,274 violent crimes in categories that include rapes, robberies and homicide — 150 fewer violent crimes compared to the same period last year, or a 6 percent decrease.
 
Only homicides rose compared to last year. Bill Toohey, a police spokesman, said the slight increase in homicides, up two over the first six months of 2008, was attributed to an April murder-suicide in a Towson hotel room.
 
In that case, William Parente, a tax and estate lawyer, killed his wife, Betty, and the couple’s two children — Stephanie, 19, and Catherine, 11 — in the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel. Parente then took his own life.
Non-violent crime, which includes property crimes and thefts, fell.

Johnson said that considering the current troubling economic times, a reduction in crime runs counter to what police generally expect. Typically, poor economies tend to drive crime rates up, he said.

He said a focus on traditional community policing practices, combined with an emphasis on technology and increasing the rates of arrests and convictions, are keeping crime down.

Individuals are also doing more to protect their property, Johnson said.

“In these hard times, people are much more aware of their property,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to educate people to safeguard their property.”

Toohey said arrest rates for violent and non-violent crimes continue to outpace national averages compiled by the FBI. Nearly 90 percent of all homicides in the county end with the arrest of a suspect — compared to a 64 percent clearance rate nationwide.
 
Clearance rates for rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults all outpace national averages and in some case are twice as high as the national average, Toohey said.

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user comments (1)

user davidmarks1 says...

So in what capacity was Adrienne Jones preening before the cameras: as a state delegate, or as one of the County Executive's political appointees?

Posted 8:43 PM, 09.22.09

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