Neighborhood Watch Update

By Chuck Foster

When we contemplate trends in crime and crime prevention, it can help to have context. The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) recently published its annual report for 2018, which includes a lot of useful and interesting information. The report can be found at the following address: https://issuu.com/fcpd/docs/2018_fcpd_annual_report?e=33283523/69537047 

The report includes violent-crime survey data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. The tables in the survey compare 2018 crime statistics for large police departments across the country. This presentation allows readers to view the number of reported crimes in Fairfax County and compare it to other large metropolitan areas. The results are quite enlightening.

The following table presents some, but not all, of the information in the FCPD report. The FCPD report does not include population size, which was added below for more effective comparisons.

Police Agency	Homicide	Rape	Robbery	Aggravated Assault	Non-Fatal Shootings	Approx Population
Fairfax County	13	92	354	260	N/A	1,140,000
Montgomery County	20	507	597	777	24	1,059,000
Prince George’s Cty	60	127	926	363	162	913,000
Washington, DC	160	273	2,034	1,674	N/A	633,000
Baltimore	309	350	5,384	5,469	678	619,000
Atlanta	89	234	1,051	1,819	431	486,000
Boston	56	242	1,170	2,735	155	685,000
Chicago	564	1,815	9,685	15,309	2,943	2,716,000
Newark	69	165	712	1,638	236	285,000
Pittsburgh	51	93	703	922	269	302,000
Portland	26	442	1,072	1,972	N/A	648,000
Raleigh	17	153	562	894	100	465,000
Salt Lake City	10	219	418	690	N/A	201,000
San Diego	35	605	1,439	3,281	N/A	1,420,000
Wichita	44	439	600	2,489	140	391,000

What is striking is the significantly lower level of reported crime in our county compared to other local jurisdictions (and the population sizes for adjacent counties are not that different from our own). Consistent with these data, when the FCPD published crime statistics for 2017, they showed the lowest levels of reported crime since the county started providing data.   

What accounts for this outcome? As one travels the county (406 square miles), it is clear that the area is anything but homogeneous as measured by any number of criteria, including, among others, race, age, religion, income, job, housing density, and political party. For example, the FCPD report shows a county population breakdown of 52.5% White, 9.1% Black, 18.6% Asian/Pacific Islander, 15.9% Hispanic and 3.9% Other Non-Hispanic. In addition, the county has an unemployment rate of approximately 2.5%, which is quite a bit lower than the national average. Furthermore, the median household income in the county is $119,230 (2017), which is above adjacent jurisdictions.

Whatever the reasons, we are fortunate to live in a community that demonstrates a high level of cooperation, tolerance, respect, industry, and civility. Let’s all do our share to maintain the high quality of life we enjoy in Reston and Fairfax County!