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Crime & Safety

Georgetown Property Crime Still Rising But There Is Hope For A Decrease

At the Second District Citizens Advisory Council meeting Wednesday, Commander Reese provided an update on May's crime statistics for the Second District.

Second District Commander Michael Reese had a mixture of good and bad news regarding property crime in the Second District. Burglaries and auto-related theft were up in the Second District; however, four burglars have been arrested recently and Reese expects to see a valley in the number of burglaries.

Cmdr. Reese notes that for many burglars, it is almost like a career, “when you leave the house to go to work, they are leaving their house to commit a burglary.” Any time a burglar is caught, there is typically a dip.

Property crime was up 5 percent overall in the second district in May 2011 compared to May 2010, but violent crime was down 29 percent. The overall crime rate increased by less than 1 percent. Theft remains a problem, particularly theft from automobiles.

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One simple way to cut down on theft is to make sure that car and home doors are locked. A substantial portion of auto-related theft is not because a criminal broke a window, but just someone walking down a row of cars, trying door handles until they find one that is unlocked.

The focus for Georgetown's PSA 206 is on burglaries, and Cmdr. Reese feels that “beat integrity” will play a large role in bringing those numbers down. Overall, violent crime numbers in Georgetown were unchanged from the same month last year.

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The focus on burglary extended to the Officer of the Month for May, Officer Robert Ferretti. Officer Ferretti was on patrol when a citizen alerted him to a burglary in progress. The police presence spooked the burglar, who entered a taxi. The citizen identified the color of the cab, and Officer Ferretti was able to find the cab in the Dupont Circle area and apprehend the suspect. Police believe that the suspect is linked to over a dozen burglaries.

covered an appreciation event for the Second District, sponsored by the Citizens Advisory Council, and after that article came out, Patch readers donated over $1,000 in response. The Council and Cmdr. Reese were grateful to all of the Patch readers who gave so generously!

**To see crimes in every category in each PSA check out the PDF attached to this article.

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