Vehicle Theft

The two challengers in the Howard County Circuit Court race -- Jonathan Scott Smith and Lenore R. Gelfman -- have campaigned hard in recent weeks with a get-tough-on-crime message, arguing that crime is rising and tougher judges can stem it.But two decades of crime data show that Howard's per-capita crime rate has been steadily dropping. And some legal experts say that judges, no matter how tough, can have little direct effect on the rate of crime.A Sun review of county and state crime data from 1975 through 1995 shows:While the total number of crimes has increased since 1975, the county's mushrooming population has steadily pushed down the crime rate since 1986.

In a widening attack on the thousands of motor vehicle thefts in the Baltimore area each year, a joint city-county police task force will be more than doubled in size next month.Its work, along with that of prosecutors, will be aided by $369,000 in grants accepted this week by the Baltimore County Council from the gubernatorially appointed Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council.The task force, formed in January with $245,000 in state grants, began with 14 officers and focused on the west side of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

Police said they arrested an Edgewood man Friday as he attempted to steal a pickup truck from the 1800 block of Pulaski Highway in Havre de Grace and are investigating whether he was involved in a string of automobile thefts in the city the past three weeks.At least nine vehicles were stolen between June 19 and Tuesday in Havre de Grace. Most were driven for a short time and then recovered in the city. Two of the vehicles have not been found, police said.An anonymous call to a police task force Thursday led officers to the suspect, Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Tom Golding said.

While crime rose 39.6 percent in Howard County and 23.4 percent in Frederick County, crime in Carroll County rose 1 percent in the first quarter this year, compared with the same period in 1994, according to state police statistics.Major crimes -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft -- are tallied by the state and released quarterly.One homicide occurred in Carroll in both periods. The number of rapes increased by 50 percent, from six in the first quarter of 1994 to nine in the first quarter of this year, the report said.

Launching a statewide program to combat vehicle theft occurs not a moment too soon. The problem has become so widespread and has grown so fast that it demands the aggressive type of approach planned by the new Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council. Similar efforts in Michigan and California have been successful.Earlier this month, the vehicle theft prevention council awarded $983,000 for public education programs around the state. About half the money went toward initiatives in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, the jurisdictions in the metro region with the highest vehicle-theft rates by far.One key initiative is the city-county task force to analyze the theft problem and devise solutions.

Vehicle theft has become such a widespread and fast-growing problem, particularly in the Baltimore metropolitan region, that elected officials have realized they ignore it at their own political peril.State powers-that-be have begun to fight back in various ways. House of Delegates members from the northwest sections of Baltimore City and Baltimore County have proposed legislation that would finally create a Maryland law specifically dealing with vehicle theft. The measure would make such a crime a first-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Maryland officials have started a focused attack on auto theft with nearly $1 million in grants to law enforcement agencies around the state, and another $1 million is on the way.Nearly a third of the money distributed has gone to Baltimore County, where car thieves have struck hard in the past year.Gov. Parris N. Glendening and the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council have modeled Maryland's program after a plan devised in Michigan, where the vehicle theft rate was once second in the nation.

Robberies, aggravated assaults and larcenies in Carroll County all increased in the first nine months of 1994 compared with the same period last year.The overall rate of serious crimes rose 2.3 percent, according to a report released last week by state police.Carroll County registered 44 robberies this year. That was an increase of 18 reported robberies over the period from January ++ through September 1993.Larcenies showed the largest increase, registering 1,677 for 1994 compared with 1,590 for the same time last year.

With auto theft reaching epidemic proportions in Maryland, law enforcement agents gathered in Woodlawn yesterday to organize a $2 million-a-year effort to prevent the crime and put more car thieves behind bars.Their program is based on a successful Michigan effort that helped reduce that state's auto theft rate by 35 percent over the last eight years. While details here have yet to be worked out, officials say the important thing is that auto theft will now be taken seriously."There's something really wrong in the system when you can buy a $20,000 car and a juvenile can steal it right from under you," said Lt. Ronald S. Savage, a commander in Baltimore's Criminal Investigation Bureau who joined colleagues from around the state at Martin's West.

A Columbia man was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to 11 charges for his part in the theft of at least 23 four-wheel-drive vehicles last winter.Adam Matthew Fattori, 19, of the 8900 block of Blade Green Lane, also was ordered to pay nearly $9,500 in restitution to 10 victims as part of a plea agreement he accepted in Howard Circuit Court.Fattori pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and eight counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle.Judge James Dudley sentenced him to one year in prison for each unauthorized-use count and two years in prison for each theft count.