Wednesday, August 01, 2018

Montgomery County murders, gang-related crime spiking again in 2018

Massive 72% surge
in violent
gang-related crime;
"Most alarming"
53% jump in 
rape cases

Montgomery County's soft-on-crime County Council continues to have real consequences for victims of crime and gangs in our community. The latest statistics show that, after a 31% spike in murders last year, there have already been more homicides in 2018 than at this time of the year in 2017. That represents a 10% increase in murders this year on top of the 31% increase last year.
COUNTY COUNCIL
Gang related robberies have increased by 36% in 2018, and gang-related assaults have shot up 43% this year. There have been 247 reported cases of rape as of June 30, compared to only 161 by the same point in 2017 - a shocking 53% increase, which Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger called "most alarming" in his testimony before the Council Public Safety Committee on July 23.

Despite recent passage of "common sense gun laws" in Maryland, weapons violations are up 6% in 2018. And even after the Council loosened marijuana laws in 2014, marijuana violations are up 11% this year. Drug offenses are up 7.4% overall so far this year. There has also been an increase in human trafficking and kidnappings.

Assaults are up 3.3% in 2018. That increase was driven by an "uptick in gang activity," Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill told the committee. The department released a list of unsurprising hot spots of gang activity in the County, with Gaithersburg and Montgomery Village being the hardest hit areas. Cider Mill and Lakeforest Mall are being worked overtime by MS-13, and the Hittsquad and L3 gangs.

MS-13 continues to dominate in the Wheaton and Piney Branch areas of the County; an MS-13 "destroyer house" was discovered on University Boulevard last year. "One Way Hustle" is now the dominant gang in Germantown, and Silver Spring is beset by multiple gangs, according to the Council staff report.

Violent gang-related crime is up an astonishing 72% in 2018, a clear failure of the County Council's weak 2017 anti-gang initiative.

57 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the point of publishing the same article that ran on your other three blogs, but two hours later?

Anonymous said...

7:03am presumably some folks just read their neighborhood news site via Dyer's network

Anonymous said...

Sam Eig - One article per month about Gaithersburg; one article per year on all other areas it claims to cover.

Rockville Nights - Mostly Pike & Rose these days, duplicated from the Bethesda blog.

East MoCo - Downtown Silver Spring, downtown Wheaton, and not much else. Lots of uncredited Google Street View photos.

Anonymous said...

You're just making stuff up. Rockville Nights is essential reading for Rockville residents. The only site dedicated to covering the city.

Anonymous said...

What is the source of your statistics, Dyer?

Anonymous said...

Wonder if Bob the Builder will support affordable housing at Westbard?

Anonymous said...

"SOFT ON CRIME...TIME TO GET TOUGH!"

So...what do you propose to do?

From Dyer's campaign website:

"Murders are up 31% in Montgomery County. Gang violence is out-of-control, and Montgomery County has been making headlines around the country for all the wrong reasons. Our soft-on-crime County Council has failed to protect the public, and policies that make our County attractive to gangs must change. We've been told the current approach is the right approach; the crime statistics prove otherwise."

Dyer's one concrete proposal? Buy a helicopter.

"Robert will propose purchasing a helicopter for the Montgomery County police department, as part of a new special unit to target gang operations in the County, and to assist in police pursuits."

Anonymous said...

Also on his campaign website:

"Robert supports getting the government out of the liquor business. Ending our archaic government liquor monopoly will allow you to finally buy beer and wine at grocery, drug and convenience stores, and our restaurants and bars to thrive and compete in the crowded D.C. regional market."

No, it won't. The prohibition on selling beer and wine at grocery, drug and convenience stores is state law and has nothing to do with Montgomery County's Department of Liquor Control. Dyer is an idiot, as usual.

Anonymous said...

How many homicides have there been year-to-date? I seem to remember a triple-murder by someone who fits Dyer's demographic.

Anonymous said...

Funny when folks argue with Dyer's hard and accurate numbers.

Lawless council = Lawless county

Anonymous said...

@ 2:03 PM - No, they're not.

And that's enough anonymous Attaboys for one day.

Anonymous said...

2:19pm you link to the unhappy campers blog that reads "County-police-report-violent-gang-related-crime-on-the-rise".

And your response is to pop the champagne and say 4 more years of this?

Baloney Concrete said...

“And your response is to pop the champagne and say 4 more years of this?”

Who said anything of the sort? Nobody.

Anonymous said...

"The unhappy campers blog"

Such resentment. LOL

Anonymous said...

"you link to the unhappy campers blog that reads 'County-police-report-violent-gang-related-crime-on-the-rise'."

"And your response is to pop the champagne and say 4 more years of this?"

Gang-related murders down 100% year-to-date. I think everyone would agree that is good news. Did you read anything but the URL of that article?

Robert Dyer said...

3:12: Did you miss the part about murders being UP again in 2018? 10% on top of the 31% spike in murders last year. I think everyone would agree that is bad news.

9:34: You missed the part about the new special gang unit in the quote you cut and pasted from my website! Super low energy troll.

9:02: My source is the Montgomery County Police Department.

Anonymous said...

That's funny...there were 25 comments here an hour ago.

Anonymous said...

Dyer @ 4:51 PM:

The MoCoPoPo already has a Criminal Street Gang Unit.

"The Criminal Street Gang Unit provides support and case enhancement in criminal investigations in which there is a gang nexus."

#DerpDerpDerp

Robert Dyer said...

5:07: This unit would not be focused on investigations - it would be focused on prevention, patrol, intervention and arrests. Hence why a helicopter is part of it. Or we can just continue the Council's "midnight basketball" approach, which clearly isn't working with a 72% spike in violent gang-related crime this year.

Anonymous said...

Where would you use that helicopter?

Robert Dyer said...

5:36: Everywhere. We have to rely on the state chopper currently, and I've heard live pursuits on the scanner where the response time to get that chopper is too long. One suspect tried to intentionally run over an officer who was rolling out stop sticks - the pursuit should have ended before that happened, and the officers pursuing the car had repeatedly asked for the helicopter to assist. The suspect ended up getting away and fleeing the County, before being arrested later in Fairfax.

Anonymous said...

So he was heading home to MS-13's base in Fairfax?

Anonymous said...

So buy a helicopter, but use it only for "prevention, patrol, intervention and arrests of gang members"?

Robert Dyer said...

6:01: No indication that pursuit was gang-related. Fairfax has been soft on crime, too.

Robert Dyer said...

6:05: I just described how it would also be used in police chases, and other traditional uses for helicopters. But it would also be part of the new gang unit. For example, we need to hit parks hard after dark in high-gang-activity areas. Midnight basketball hasn't worked.

Anonymous said...

What kind of "gang activity" can be spotted using a helicopter?

Anonymous said...

3:06pm Such low expectations of our local government. We can do better.

Anonymous said...

8:07 AM by Anna:

"7:47AM, they're too embarrassed to use their name when lauding him?"


Robert Dyer said...

6:23: LOL - you are apparently unaware of how MS-13 uses our public parks at night.

Robert Dyer said...

Hint: It's not for midnight basketball.

Anonymous said...

What activity can actually be spotted by a helicopter?

Robert Dyer said...

8:54: Uh, gangsters up to no good in parks at 2 AM, maybe? Think about it.

Anonymous said...

How would one distinguish "gangsters up to no good", from teenagers "sowing wild oats", or from the homeless, from a helicopter flying several hundred feet in the air at night?

Baloney Concrete said...

Thanks for the assist, 3:18!

Anonymous said...

It would be funny if the very first person to be busted by the MoCoPoPo MS-13 Seeker Destroyer Helicopter, was Robert Dyer on one of his 3AM wanderings.

Anna said...

Thanks from me too 5:43. I was wondering how that comment got back. :)

Anna said...

5:45AM Karma is when you throw a banana in Mario Kart and you end up slipping on it.

Anonymous said...

6:07am stop wishing bad things happen to people you don't know or have even met.

I remember Giffords said...

This should be a big issue in the county elections. Hopefully we'll see some debate and coverage of where candidates stand on public safety.

Remember, Hans Reimer was arrested in the past year.

Anna said...

6:48PM, honey, your obsession with me is worrying...creepy even.

Something drives you to reach out to me, again and again. If you stopped, I'd be very happy. But the fact that I think differently than you do... it compels you. You can't really control yourself. Something in your emotional makeup.

I'm just a short, middle-aged woman who cares to speak her mind and stand up for what she knows is the truth. You know, truth, justice and the American way.

And, surprisingly that makes you uncomfortable.

Anonymous said...

According to the MCPD, some crime stats are up, others are down, and some of the stat increases (e.g. rape) are due to changes in how these crimes are reported. Interestingly, according to the MCPD, no gang-related murders are known to have occurred thus far in 2018. This is a significant decrease & I would say real good news. How this relates to Dyer's numbers, I'm not sure, but I suspect he is cherrypicking data and comparing apples & oranges.

Anonymous said...

7:09am no woman ever describes herself as "middle aged".

Stop posting fake comments please.

Anna said...

“It’s just horrifying to think about people who feel that any interaction with public safety could result in deportation. Even though they’re law-abiding students pursuing education, building a future for themselves,” Riemer said. “They are being forced into the shadows. The rest of us have to step in for them and be heard.”

So, "Giffords," he was peacefully protesting for the rights of his constituents?
What part of that makes him your villain?

Anna said...

Awww, 7:20AM. You don't know the right women. Pity. Although with that attitude of yours, it's quite believable.

Anonymous said...

Dyer is the guy you love to hate and watch.

Anonymous said...

#Dyer'sLittleHelper said @ 6:48 AM: "stop wishing bad things happen to people you don't know or have even met."

Robert Dyer: "Punch yourself in the face until you black out to save us all time and energy."

"Everyone in Bethesda literally would like to punch you in the face."

Anonymous said...

Thanks Mr. Dyer for providing your readers accurate and pertinent information.Keep up the good reporting!

Baloney Concrete said...

Thank you for the link, 8:59. It seems Mr. Dyer would like his readers to be beholden to him for any and all context.

Mr. Dyer's post reads, "There have been 247 reported cases of rape as of June 30, compared to only 161 by the same point in 2017 - a shocking 53% increase." However, the memo submitted to the Public Safety Committee says, "sex offenses are up 53.4% (247 incidents vs. 161)." Are all of those cases of rape, or does "sex offenses" also include things like indecent exposure, etc.?

Robert Dyer said...

7:19: Murders are up this year - it doesn't matter whether they are classified as "gang murders." Murders are murders, and the fact is, there have been more of them in 2018 than by this point last year.

This is a significant INCREASE in murders (already up 31% last year), and I would say REAL BAD NEWS.

No cherry picking here, but definitely in other local media, who cherry picked talking points like you did - and none of whom mentioned the astonishing jump in the number of reported rapes this year. An incredible 53%. What was that about "cherry picking data" again? Not reporting that rape is up 53% is the very definition of cherry picking.

12:41: Read the memo again, and you'll see the notation "rape" next to the case numbers. It would seem you would like my readers to be steered to inaccurate fake news on MoCo cartel-controlled propaganda websites. Unfortunately for you, I have the most educated readers in the D.C. area.

9:37: Put down your copy of "Rules for Radicals" and pick up a police tactics textbook for the answer.

Anonymous said...

"Unfortunately for you, I have the most educated readers in the D.C. area."

You don't have the slightest idea who your readers are.

Robert Dyer said...

4:57: I bump into my readers all the time on the streets of Bethesda. They are the most highly-educated readers in the area. Which is why they read my news sites, because they want the real story, not the propaganda from the MoCo cartel.

Anna said...

Who of importance can you be bumping into in the middle of the night?

Anonymous said...

Montgomery County is infested with violent street gangs and criminals.The problem is that the County Council and Montgomery County police are soft on crime.A liberal approach to solving crime never works,it only allows more criminal activity.

Anna said...

There is no cartel. Period. It exists only in your Fox-fueled dreams.



This is been a public service announcement from Karma.

Anonymous said...

baloney concrete,thank you very much for the link to the report,Montgomery County is on a downward spiral.

Anonymous said...

wheres the link

Baloney Concrete said...

Mr. Dyer’s comment above references a memo. Here is the memo:

http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=8030&meta_id=160126