Published on: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

By Katelin Wangberg, The Prince George’s Sentinel

Despite a recent string of citizen robberies in College Park, police agencies report the city’s overall crime rates declined, following the countywide trend.

While the decrease is slight, and in some cases the rate is flat, Maj. Robert Liberati, Prince George’s County Police Department commander of District 1, said it is significant because College Park is growing, and growing populations can foreshadow increased crime. Yet this year, that is not the case.

Violent crime is down by 15 percent in all of District 1. Commercial robberies and residential robberies are down, however citizen robberies have increased by five incidents. Burglaries are overall down, though residential burglaries are up by three incidents out of 100. Theft and stolen cars are also down.

The number of reported assaults has increased this year by eight incidents. Liberati said although the percentage increase of assaults this year is big, the actual increase in incidents is small, making the percents seem misleading.

Read more at thesentinel.com