“Wheaton is not a dangerous place,” said Fourth District Police Commander John Damskey at the first meeting of the Wheaton Public Safety Work Group on Nov. 19. “But the perception is horrible," he added.
The new Wheaton Public Safety Work Group is tasked with finding ways of “improving public safety, quality of life, and perceptions of downtown Wheaton as it relates to revitalization efforts."
At the Nov. 19 meeting, attendees talked about the changes Wheaton has undergone. They also discussed improving appearance and safety in Wheaton with more street lights, cameras at pay stations and median landscaping.
In an Aug. 8 memorandum, Montgomery County councilmembers Hans Riemer (D–At Large) and Nancy Navarro (D-District 4) outlined the work group's purpose, which includes following through on recommendations presented by the Wheaton Public Safety Audit Task Force in 2004.
The group aims to bring together different segments of the Wheaton community: Mid-County Regional Services director Ana Lopez van Balen, members of the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Board and the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee, Fourth District police, representatives from Montgomery County public schools and parent-teacher associations, Wheaton residents and business owners and representatives from neighborhood civic associations.
Van Balen explained at the meeting that, even though Wheaton is an urban community, it is not fraught with crime. One attendee remarked how she felt that crime is increasing because she has been reading more about it on the news.
Commander Damskey responded that it is a result of pushing out information to the public, successfully solving crimes and apprehending criminals.
“The access of information has been great,” he said, “but crime is not."
He added, "We solve more crimes than any other district and that is a direct result of our team. We monitor the quality of life and take complaints very seriously.”
But the issue of perception still needs to be addressed, he said.
The group is hoping to work with residents and business owners in Wheaton to talk about the changes and help with this issue.
“Our biggest challenge is our residents,” van Balen said. “We need them to be the champions of Wheaton.”
The group will hold its future meetings on the third Monday of each month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 17.
I think it's fair to say that people are concerned about not just the perception of crime, but about the amount of armed robberies, aggravated assaults, and residential burglaries in Wheaton. Those crimes are not the same as someone breaking into your car and stealing something you left in it (which has happened to me in Wheaton). And, lastly, loitering isn't going to attract people to the area or make it seem better. People who do not appear to be taking Metro anytime soon are often hanging out at the entrance. People sometimes are hanging out at parking lots of 7-11s. They may not be committing crimes when hanging out, but they add to a negative perception of Wheaton.
1. Crack down on the money laundering storefronts (I mean upstanding wire your money/cash your check contributors to the LEDC) 2. Stop using Wheaton as the low-income housing dumping ground (I mean all those fine residents of the multiple HOC and MHC owned properties who's cultural need is to litter and loiter)
Wheaton has a lot going for it, but it also has things going against it, including both the fact of violent crime and residential burglaries and the perception of such. We've never been the victim of violent crime. The worst we've had was a brick through the window to steal items from our locked car. I do not think that Wheaton is crime-ridden, but it's also not Shangri-La. That's in Bethesda: http://shangrilaus.com/.
I have frequented either alone or with my wife many downtown Wheaton establishments over the years including Los Cabanos, Panda Wok, Wong Gee, Pollo Rico, Riverside Lounge, Jose's Grill, Nava Thai, Limerick, Royal Mile Pub, Showcase Aquarium, Marchones, Saigonese, and many more over the years and have never had a problem.
By the way, I think the police do an excellent job, but I assume we'd all rather have less crime than a high arrest record.
For the record, here's the current site for the police department, including crime statistics: http://www.mymcpnews.com/crime-statistics/quarterly-crime-stats/. Compared to 2011, Wheaton's statistics for the first 3 quarters of 2012 show 10-16% decreases in burglary, auto theft, and robbery offset by both a 63% increase in aggravated assaults and a slight larceny increase. (As of September 30, there were more aggravated assaults than in all of 2011.) The number of arrests for larceny, burglary, and robbery has increased considerably, from 262 (of 2206) to 351 (of 2198). Of these 351 arrests, larceny accounts for 221 (of 1706), burglary 83 (of 369), and robbery 47 (of 123). Arrests for aggravated assault went from 31 (of 92) to 32 (of 150). Overall the number of these "Part I" crimes (including murder and rape too) are about the same as last year with an increase in arrests from 301 (of 2492) in 2011 to 389 (of 2520) in 2012. Compared to 5 years ago, Wheaton has far less of these "Part 1" crimes overall, which is a good thing. Let's hope that the overall number of violent crimes decreases, especially as more people may come to the area to live, work, and shop. And thank you to the County police, who have always done excellent work.
In 2011, Silver Spring had a violent crime rate of about 2.4 crimes per 1,000 population. In Wheaton, it was 2.0 crimes per 1,000 population. The other districts were Rockville (1.1), Germantown (1.0), and Bethesda (0.5). Compare this with the booming Columbia Heights area of Washington, DC, which in 2010 had a rate of 13.0 violent crimes per 1,000 population. Even Georgetown had a violent crime rate of 5.0, more than twice the rate of Wheaton. If you include burglary, larceny, and auto theft, the rate in Wheaton was 18 crimes per 1,000 population, with the vast majority of that as larceny (taking of property outside of a building).
now I feel out of the loop...
We need to get more people of all economic classes walking around Wheaton in order for it to feel vibrant and healthy. People can walk from their houses to restaurants, stores, etc. Why don't they do it more?
These were only some of the changes that have been put in place. It is by no means an exhaustive list. Other recommendations and implementations included: median barriers and providing a more pedestrian friendly environment among others.