Greenbelt Police Chief Says Franklin Park Crime Fell

Overall crime is down by 11 percent in Franklin Park with a 50 percent reduction in robbery, Greenbelt Police Chief James R. Craze said.

"That part of the town has been a drag on our services historically as far back as I can remember," he said, adding now that crime is down in Franklin Park, police can be redeployed from that neighborhood to help other parts of the community.

In Franklin Park, formerly Empirian Village, there were 105 major crimes, or Part 1 crimes, in the first quarter of 2010, as tracked by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) data, which tracks murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, breaking or entering, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, according to Craze, who said in the first quarter of 2011 there were 93 Part 1 crimes in Franklin Park, excluding arson, because he said Greenbelt does not track that.

He also cited 12 robberies in Empirian Village in the first quarter of 2010 as opposed to 2011's first quarter amount for Franklin Park, which totaled six. Last year, he noted there were also 22 motor vehicle thefts there in the first quarter, and this year there were seven.

Craze praised Officer Tim White, the full-time community policing officer at Franklin Park, who has an on-site office at Franklin Park. "He's done a wonderful job over there," he said.

Craze also had high praise for Debbie Dillon, executive vice president of Fieldstone Properties. The crime reduction is also a result of their efforts to manage who they let in there, he said, adding that he has been very impressed with them. "They're not just blowing smoke," said Dillon.

Greenbelt has been watching Franklin Park since Fieldstone Properties closed on the massive 153-acre, 2,877-unit apartment and townhome rental complex in October 2010.

"If somebody causes a crime now, they don't put up with it. They throw them out," Craze said.