The report mirrors statistics compiled in other large urban centers, where total crime including robberies has declined but homicides have increased in the past two years.
The area covered in the report stretches from Frederick County, Maryland, to Prince William County, Virginia. In that region, the population has grown by nearly 10 percent, to 5.5 million people, since 2006. Over the same period, the per capita crime rate has dropped from 25 per 1,000 people to 21 per 1,000 people. That statistic includes violent and property crimes.
Violent crime across the region fell from 21,483 cases in 2006 to 15,543 in 2015 — a 28 percent reduction. Over the past five years, the number of violent offenses has remained relatively unchanged from year to year. The report notes 15,845 violent crimes in 2011 and 15,543 in 2015, with no significant spikes in the intervening years.
However, the homicide rates have rebounded. In 2006, the region recorded 364 homicides, and a decade later the tally is 307. But the number declined significantly from 2011 to 2014.
The report attributes the regional increase in homicides to a rise in slayings in the District and in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Other jurisdictions recorded unchanged or lower homicide rates over the past five years.
