Chief Says More Car Thefts a Result of Policy Change
By: Melissa Ostrow
For: Suburban Newsline
View Original Article
Greenbelt Police are analyzing why car theft has been rising for the past five years and believe a city policy change might be at least partly responsible.
Car theft increased 119 percent from 1997 to 2001, according to statistics supplied by the police department. In 1997, 199 cars were stolen. In 2001, that number was 435. The change from 2000 to 2001 was the highest percent change in five years, 51.6 percent.
Greenbelt's overall crime rate for 2001 was 8,958 crimes per 100,000 residents, and the rate of car theft was 2,027 per 100,000 residents. Other crimes that increased in 2001 included theft, up 5 percent; burglary, up 13 percent; and assaults, up 10 percent. Robberies declined 6 percent.
In a letter to Greenbelt City Manager Michael P. McLaughlin, Police Chief Jim Craze explained that the increase might be because of a policy that went into effect in 1992 cutting back on car chases.
According to the letter, an officer can now pursue a car only if serious crimes against a person are involved or when a driver is suspected of driving while intoxicated or in a reckless manner.
The policy change came after three people died in car chases, one of them a 47-year-old man hit by a car that had been carjacked then chased and another a 12-year-old boy driving a stolen car at 2 a.m.
Craze wrote, "My rationale was that the pursuits were creating a greater public safety threat than the theft."
"There are millions of bad things and only one good thing that can happen" as a result of a car chase, explained Officer George Mathews, crime prevention officer.
Craze also wrote that most auto thieves do not receive much punishment from the courts, so for many criminals, it is worth the risk. He explained that police officers are concerned about racial profiling when they stop cars, and wrote, "Car theft is largely a young, black, male endeavor in the area."
To curb the city's auto theft rate, the department participates in the state Vehicle Theft Prevention Council's "Watch Your Car" program. Greenbelt residents can register their cars with the police, allowing police to stop the car without cause during high-theft-rate times of day. Studies have shown that cars are more likely to be stolen between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., and that is when cars are checked, said Mathews.
The police department also tries to work with city residents, said Mathews. The police department holds crime prevention seminars, when officers teach residents how not to become victims. Residents have also created committees and workshops, including neighborhood watch programs, designed to prevent crime.
Problems with car theft occur mostly in commercial areas or densely populated areas such as apartments, condominiums and the Beltway Plaza shopping center, in Sector 4. According to Mathews, Sector 2 of the city, which contains only Springhill Lake, a garden apartment complex, has more stolen cars, in part because in garden apartment complexes residents often have to park far away from their apartments.
In areas like Old Greenbelt, where residents can park in their driveways and the neighbors know each other, the auto theft rate is much lower. Last year Old Greenbelt had 49 cars stolen, whereas Sector 2 had 190.
While the police say they are trying their best, they need the help of the citizens to prevent crime. "Citizens are the eyes and ears of the police department," said Mathews.
