Crimes Reported

Baltimore City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., the leading Democratic primary opponent of Mayor Sheila Dixon, called for an independent audit of crime statistics yesterday, arguing that the official numbers do not reflect actual crime. Sounding a refrain that has become familiar in Baltimore politics, Mitchell questioned the Dixon administration's position that overall violent crime is down, while murders and nonfatal shootings climb. Mitchell promised to request an audit from the U.S. Department of Justice today.

Maryland reported a 6 percent drop in overall crime in the first half of 1997, continuing a state and national trend toward declining crime rates.The statistics issued yesterday by Maryland State Police and the governor's office also marked Maryland's first January-to-June crime reduction since 1990.The 140,016 crimes reported from January through June this year amount to a crime being committed somewhere in Maryland every 1 minute and 45 seconds -- but also represented a drop from the 148,742 crimes reported for the first half of 1996.

The percentage of Americans victimized by crime fell last year to the lowest level since the government began keeping data on the issue in 1973, according to a Justice Department report issued yesterday.The report found that the nation's rate of violent crime dropped 10 percent in 1996, while the rate of property crime declined 8 percent."I'm flabbergasted," said Jeffrey Fagan, director of the Center for Violence Research and Prevention at Columbia University."That's a very dramatic drop."

Violent crime in Baltimore County fell 2.5 percent during the first nine months of 1997 compared with the corresponding period last year, a decrease that authorities attribute to crime-fighting programs involving police, residents and business owners.The drop in murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault accompanied a dip of 1.2 percent in all crimes reported, according to police statistics released this week.That decline, along with an increase in arrests for robbery and burglary, can be traced to better cooperation between police departments and between police and residents, county police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan said.

Driven by a substantial increase in robberies, serious crimes in Howard County rose by a third in the first three months of 1995 -- a rise county police partly attributed yesterday to a mild winter that made life easier for criminals.The increase in the number of crimes reported -- continuing a countywide rise in serious crime over the past two years -- came despite a slight drop in some types of violent crime, including rape and assault, and a dip in auto theft.During the January to March period this year, robberies nearly doubled and theft went up by 71 percent compared to the same period last year, according to county crime statistics released yesterday.

The number of crimes reported on Baltimore's light rail system has risen dramatically this year at a time when overall crime is down on other forms of public transit.Mass Transit Administration officials attributed much of the increase to higher light rail ridership. The southern segment of the Central Light Rail Line was completed in June, and the MTA estimates that there may be twice as many passengers riding the system as a year ago. The disruptive behavior of adolescent boys, often as young as 12, also appears to be contributing to the problem, officials contend.

While Baltimore County established a record for murders in 1992, the number of less serious crimes actually decreased by 4.8 percent, according to a report released yesterday.The annual crime statistics from county police and showed that violent crime continued to rise: there were more rapes, robberies and murders in 1992 than in 1991.Murder led the way. Forty-four people were killed in the county, compared to 25 the year before, an increase of 76 percent. The county has averaged around 30 murders per year over the last decade.

Violent crime in Howard County fell 11 percent in the first nine months of this year, while vandalism and similar crimes rose nearly 5 percent, according to statistics released by the Howard County Police Department."

A furnace malfunction apparently caused a one-alarm fire that gutteda home in this South Carroll community Tuesday afternoon.No one was injured in the blaze on Gibbons Road, said Richard Lyons, chief of the Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Department. Six units from Sykesville, Gamber, Winfield and Reese responded.Lyons said the fire in the wood-frame house was knocked down in about 10 minutes, but firefighters spent the better part of an hour cooling "hot spots."He said it was not clear whether the problem was a back-fire or some other mechanical failure.

Report shows crimes of violence on riseThe number of violent crimes reported to the Harford County Sheriff's Office increased in the first six months of 1992 compared with the same period last year.From Jan. 1 to June 30, 1992, the Sheriff's Office investigated four murders, compared with none during the first six months of 1991, a report released last week shows.The number of robberies rose from 12 in the first six months of 1991 to 26 during the first half of 1992, while the number of assaults increased from 355 to 397, the report shows.

So far, authorities believe James von Brunn, the Maryland man accused of killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, acted alone. But the anti-Semitic and racist views he has expressed in decades of rants - in court testimony, on his Web site and in a self-published book - represent the convictions of a deeply rooted community of extremists now taking advantage of technology to attract new recruits. At least 13 such outfits now operate in Maryland, according to trackers of hate groups.

Baltimore City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., the leading Democratic primary opponent of Mayor Sheila Dixon, called for an independent audit of crime statistics yesterday, arguing that the official numbers do not reflect actual crime. Sounding a refrain that has become familiar in Baltimore politics, Mitchell questioned the Dixon administration's position that overall violent crime is down, while murders and nonfatal shootings climb. Mitchell promised to request an audit from the U.S. Department of Justice today.

Baltimore County police Capt. Stephen Vaughan can still remember the dread he felt the first time he entered the Wilkens Precinct as a youth. "I had to come here to retrieve my BB gun from an irate citizen who confiscated it," he recalled. Vaughan grew up in Arbutus and Catonsville and has returned to his roots after recently being named commander of the Wilkens Precinct. The assignment brings the career of the 27-year police veteran full-circle. "When you grow up someplace," he said, "it really is a homecoming."

Violent crime in Baltimore County fell 2.5 percent during the first nine months of 1997 compared with the corresponding period last year, a decrease that authorities attribute to crime-fighting programs involving police, residents and business owners.The drop in murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault accompanied a dip of 1.2 percent in all crimes reported, according to police statistics released this week.That decline, along with an increase in arrests for robbery and burglary, can be traced to better cooperation between police departments and between police and residents, county police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan said.

The percentage of Americans victimized by crime fell last year to the lowest level since the government began keeping data on the issue in 1973, according to a Justice Department report issued yesterday.The report found that the nation's rate of violent crime dropped 10 percent in 1996, while the rate of property crime declined 8 percent."I'm flabbergasted," said Jeffrey Fagan, director of the Center for Violence Research and Prevention at Columbia University."That's a very dramatic drop."

Maryland reported a 6 percent drop in overall crime in the first half of 1997, continuing a state and national trend toward declining crime rates.The statistics issued yesterday by Maryland State Police and the governor's office also marked Maryland's first January-to-June crime reduction since 1990.The 140,016 crimes reported from January through June this year amount to a crime being committed somewhere in Maryland every 1 minute and 45 seconds -- but also represented a drop from the 148,742 crimes reported for the first half of 1996.

Driven by a substantial increase in robberies, serious crimes in Howard County rose by a third in the first three months of 1995 -- a rise county police partly attributed yesterday to a mild winter that made life easier for criminals.The increase in the number of crimes reported -- continuing a countywide rise in serious crime over the past two years -- came despite a slight drop in some types of violent crime, including rape and assault, and a dip in auto theft.During the January to March period this year, robberies nearly doubled and theft went up by 71 percent compared to the same period last year, according to county crime statistics released yesterday.

The number of crimes reported on Baltimore's light rail system has risen dramatically this year at a time when overall crime is down on other forms of public transit.Mass Transit Administration officials attributed much of the increase to higher light rail ridership. The southern segment of the Central Light Rail Line was completed in June, and the MTA estimates that there may be twice as many passengers riding the system as a year ago. The disruptive behavior of adolescent boys, often as young as 12, also appears to be contributing to the problem, officials contend.

While Baltimore County established a record for murders in 1992, the number of less serious crimes actually decreased by 4.8 percent, according to a report released yesterday.The annual crime statistics from county police and showed that violent crime continued to rise: there were more rapes, robberies and murders in 1992 than in 1991.Murder led the way. Forty-four people were killed in the county, compared to 25 the year before, an increase of 76 percent. The county has averaged around 30 murders per year over the last decade.

Violent crime in Howard County fell 11 percent in the first nine months of this year, while vandalism and similar crimes rose nearly 5 percent, according to statistics released by the Howard County Police Department."