By IJEOMA OPARA
Officials of the law enforcement agencies that patrol College Park said in October that theft is the most common crime in the city.
Thefts from automobiles and thefts of automobiles are most prevalent, according to officers from the Metro Transit Police Department, Maryland-National Capital Park Police and Prince George’s County Police Department who spoke to the College Park City Council.
“Most of our incidents are theft-related,” Yasmin Brown, assistant chief of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police, agreed. “A lot of that is a crime of opportunity: people leaving something in their car or leaving their car unlocked.”
Brown noted that crime, at least in parks, “slows down a little bit with the weather change. It always does.”
Theft also has been the most reported crime on the University of Maryland (UMD) campus in College Park for the past 10 years, according to data from the UMD Police Department.
Lt. Brian Wiesemann, the commander of the Maryland State Police College Park barracks, pointed to drunk driving arrests, while UMD Police Chief David Mitchell told the council he has seen a rise in thefts of electric scooters, laptop computers and phones.
Still, Maj. Jim Keleti, commander of the Prince George’s County Police Hyattsville Division 1, said property crime like theft from autos declined by 15% in the city, while violent crime is up by 6%.
Overall, however, crime in College Park is down by 11%, Keleti said.
Hyattsville Division 1 patrols College Park, as the city does not have its own police force.
Keleti told the council that county police dealt with 330 cases of larceny theft during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, including 192 cases of theft from autos and 138 other theft cases. Larceny increased by nearly 6% last year, Keleti said.
Deputy Chief Stephen Boehm of the Metro Transit Police said crime overall has dropped by 30% across the system in Maryland, Virginia and the District.
He said the most frequent crimes at the College Park station are auto, bicycle and scooter thefts, noting that motorized scooters are considered by Metro Transit Police as autos.
In response, police there have started a “bike bait” program. Officers have caught multiple thieves by placing their own bikes on racks monitored by a video camera.
“Unfortunately you see a lot of folks getting high-end bikes with low-end locks,” Boehm said. “If you’re going to invest in the bikes, invest in the lock and know how to properly secure it.”
He added that a collaboration with the other local police agencies has led to a 166% increase in the number of arrests for theft, mostly connected to thefts of and from autos.
Mitchell also reported increasing theft, leading to 287 criminal arrests on campus.
“As with Metro and many of the municipal police departments, we’re seeing a rise in theft, particularly scooter theft. It’s a major issue on campus,” Mitchell said. “We’ve made a number of arrests for thefts of scooters, and it goes beyond scooters to cell phones, laptops and so forth.”
