Police Provide Insight on Crime Rate in County

Prince William County Police show that overall crime is slowly declining in the county, but they cannot determine if violent crimes are rising annually until 2013 data is released.

Prince William County Police are in agreement with Chairman Corey Stewart’s plan to hire more officers, although they have not confirmed that incidents of violent crime have risen over the past year.

“Our message, that we have consistently and publicly stated to the BOCS (Board of County Supervisors) and others, is that in order to achieve the BOCS's adopted comprehensive goal of two officers per 1,000 population, we need to strive for 25 sworn and 5 civilian positions per year,” Prince William Police spokesperson Officer Jonathan Perok told Bristow Beat.

According to Prince William County Police, the data on crime in the county from 2013 is still in the process of being collected, but the chairman is correct in that incidents of violent crimes increased from 2011 to 2012.

“In 2012, the number of reported property crimes fell by 2 percent;” however, “the total number of reported violent crimes increased by 9 percent,” Perok said.

He noted that, “violent crime accounts for only 6 percent of all crime in Prince William County. Furthermore, 4 percent of 2012’s increase in violent crime is attributed to prior year incidents.”

Overall, crime decreased, albeit slightly, from 2011 to 2012.

“The number of crimes per 1,000 residents dropped from 17.5 in 2011 to 17.04 in 2012,” Perok said.

However, these numbers are consistent with an overall trend of crime decreasing in the county; Perok characterizes the drop as having been, “steady over the past several years.”

Nonetheless, Prince William Police acknowledges that several incidents over the past month have caused concern in the community.

We have had two incidents recently, which have sparked public concern, and I believe were also referenced by the chairman. The first was the incident last month at Potomac Mills involving the large fight. Obviously, when the incident was breaking, inaccurate gossip of a gunman and shooting spread very quickly. Officers were able to get to the mall quickly and determine that only an assault had taken place. We were also able to make multiple arrests within a few days of the incident.

The second incident is the recent murder of Glenda Coca-Romero at the Platanillos Grocery off Route 1. This case is troubling and our detectives have been working tirelessly on the case in hopes of making arrests. Even though we have received tips in the case, we continue to ask for the public’s help with any information can provide.

Perok said the Prince William Police Department values the input individuals living or working in the county can provide in deterring crime through keeping in close contact with the police.