Crime decreased in the City of Rockville in 2015 for the second year in a row and for the sixth time in the past seven years.
The city’s police department reported Thursday in its annual crime report an overall decrease in crime of 4 percent, led by a 22 percent decrease in burglaries and an 8 percent decrease in robberies in 2015 compared to 2014.
Serious crimes—categorized as part I offenses, such as homicides, rapes, robberies, burglaries and arson—dropped by 2 percent, while part II offenses, such as fraud, vandalism and prostitution, dropped by 6 percent.
Total crimes within the city’s limits dropped from 2,623 incidents in 2014 to 2,514 in 2015. Since 2006, part I offenses have dropped from a 10-year high of 1,842 in 2006 to a low of 1,202 in 2015, according to the police statistics. During that 10-year period increases in part 1 offenses only happened three times—in 2006, 2008 and 2013.
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Chart and text via Rockville police's 2015 Uniform Crime Report
“We can attribute many of these positive statistics in crime reduction to our continued partnership with the community,” Rockville Police Chief T.N. Treschuk said in a statement. “Our efforts to maintain a safe and secure environment rely on our ability to develop collaborative relationships with the many different neighborhoods that make up our great city.”
Certain categories of crime did see increases in 2015. Homicides in the 13-square mile city rose from none in 2014 to two in 2015. One homicide was result of an attack on a woman by a former boyfriend and in the other two parents were charged in the death of their 10-week old child, police said.
The number of reported rapes also increased from 10 in 2014 to 23 in 2015 and police said that in 20 of those cases the offender was known to the victim “in some fashion.” Auto theft also increased by 36 percent, from 34 reports in 2014 to 53 cases in 2015.
