Prince George’s County officials say hiring more police officers and several key programs resulted in fewer auto thefts last year, after five straight years of increases.
“We’ve got the resources to do it now,” said Capt. Russell San Felice of the Prince George’s County Police Department, who also runs the Washington Area Vehicle Enforcement (WAVE) team. “It’s the first time in many, many years that we’ve had this amount of resources allocated to auto thefts.”
County officials also say that beyond the additional manpower, public-awareness campaigns, a revamped WAVE team and County Executive Jack B. Johnson’s move last month to create a county Auto Theft and Vandalism Prevention Task Force have helped reduce the number of thefts.
The county’s struggle with violent crime and auto theft was highlighted in 2004 when 18,485 vehicles were stolen, compared to the 17,376 taken throughout the rest of Maryland. (The FBI reported 16,332 thefts, but the number includes only those reported by the county police and not those reported by municipalities in the county.)
The preliminary FBI number for 2005 is 11,767 thefts, with a final report due next month.
“Our internal numbers …show a decline of 8.6 percent in auto theft for the entire year of 2005,” said Capt. Andrew Ellis, a county police spokesman. “An overall county rate of about 10 percent is certainly realistic.”
Capt. San Felice said the WAVE team at one time had only 10 federal and state officers but now has about 35 and has received adequate funding for the technology to reduce auto thefts.
For example, the team has used some of the roughly $800,000 it received from the state and county to hire statistical analysts and buy four license-plate readers.
The readers, which cost $25,000 each, allow officers to use cameras to scan license plates from a distance. The information then feeds into a nationwide database that alerts officers if a car or tag is reported stolen.
The department now has four readers and has ordered seven more, Capt. San Felice said. The team also has increased the number of random inspections at tow lots and auto shops, where a high number of stolen vehicles are found.
“Our experience has so far been as we do random inspections of [a small percentage] of tow companies, that small percentage is responsible for a significant amount of stolen property,” Capt. San Felice said.
Officials said the court system also has helped because judges during the past nine months have imposed harsher sentences on adults to deter them from becoming repeat offenders.
“Adult auto thieves are getting increased jail time for sure,” said Glenn F. Ivey, the county’s state’s attorney. “The judges have been very good about giving them jail time, even if they’re first offenders.”
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