CHANGE MY LOCATION
Local
California News
Multimedia News
Sheriff: Report fails to show entire picture
SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY
Related Topics: Carroll County
Carroll County (Map, News) - A new crime report ranks Carroll as the safest county in Maryland, but the sheriff says the report fails to show the entire picture.
“It only captures a small fraction of the actual crime picture in Carroll,” Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning said of the 2006 Uniform Crime Report released this month.
The 229-page report tabulates nine violent crimes: murders, aggravated assaults, breaking and entering, robberies, vehicle thefts, arson, rape, domestic violence and thefts over $500.
The report, which the state police compile from statistics submitted by police agencies statewide, does not include other crimes that affect residents’ quality of life, such as petty thefts and destruction of property, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Phil Kasten said.
“The Uniform Crime Report could probably focus on misdemeanors,” state police spokesman Sgt. Arthur Betts said. “But these [serious crimes] are the ones that concern the citizens the most and that’s why [the report] focuses on these ones.”
The FBI abandoned the Uniform Crime Report in 2004, saying “the index has not been a true indicator of the degree of criminality.”
Fraud schemes, which the report lists but not by the total number of victims, bilked Carroll residents out of several hundred thousand dollars last year, Kasten said.
Forty residents lost $115,000 on a travel scheme that canceled their reservations.
At least five more residents were tricked into losing $16,000 on bogus Canadian and Swiss lotteries.
And another four residents paid for shoddy construction work on their driveways and roofs done by a man wanted for exploitation of the elderly in South Carolina.
Identity theft through credit card scams is reported at least once a week, Kasten said.
FAST FACT
Fraud schemes affect millions of Americans every year, but “police officers face difficulties in taking identity theft reports because the jurisdiction of the crime is unknown or distant from the victim’s business or residence,” according to Police Chief magazine.
kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:48 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 21, 2007 re: "Sheriff: Report fails to show entire picture"
Report as inappropriate
8:02 AM MST on Sat., Jun. 23, 2007
re: "Sheriff: Report fails to show entire picture"
Report as inappropriate
4:22 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 22, 2007
re: "Sheriff: Report fails to show entire picture"
Report as inappropriate
10:20 AM MST on Thu., Jun. 14, 2007
re: "Candidates look to add to police force"
Report as inappropriate
9:15 AM MST on Thu., Jun. 14, 2007
re: "Candidates look to add to police force"
Report as inappropriate
1:27 AM MST on Wed., Jun. 13, 2007
re: "Candidates look to add to police force"
Report as inappropriate
10:14 AM MST on Wed., May. 2, 2007
re: "Police: Rate of homicides is even with ’06"
Report as inappropriate
Examiner Reader said:
Read through the lines. All this article is about is a Sheriff trying to discredit good things that are happening in a county. The UCR is the most accurate means of analying serious crime for mostpolice departments in the U.S..... They are just trying to expand their department by discrediting other's good work and this is the only way they know how to do it! The people in Carroll County think that they pay alot for the MSP, wait until they get a county police force - then they will really pay no matter what this guy says - just look at the property taxes and expenses in other counties.
136 agree | 121 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Concerned Resident said:
It sounds as if the State Police have adjusted the crime stats to save their outdated resident trooper program ! Doesnt crime go up when they want more money for troopers in Carroll County ?
148 agree | 131 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Annapolis Defense Attorney said:
Yeah don't and don't forget about all of those bong cases that go unreported each year! Thank God we pay taxes to the police to stop those horrible criminals.
170 agree | 127 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
500 or 1,000 more poilce officers will not help. The base problem is lack of respect, which starts in the home. Once the population realizes that the police and teachers can not be the parents to your kids, this whole sad situation may turn around.
164 agree | 153 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Could it be Management? Has anyone asked that question? Now that we have looked at numbers let's look at the quality of the leadership. At this point it is not about how many police, it is about what they are doing. Where is the strategic plan? That is why Mitchell's plan of the three Mayoral contenders is so weak. These folks can't get think outside of the box, and the entire city is suffering.
169 agree | 154 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Clearly, based on the above article, it is not that we have too few police. Other cities have close to the same number in proportion to their population but less crime and homicide. This tells me that the policedepartment is malfunctioning. Before we get more officers we need to put the ones we have to good use.
159 agree | 137 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Kareem Timmons was an ex-boyfriend of mine about 10 years ago. I miss him and loved him dearly. He was a very kind hearted person.
204 agree | 179 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree