Recent Crime and Law Updates: Montgomery County Grapples with New Challenges and Solutions

July 27, 2023 – By Anna Lam

Crime

Crime has always been an aspect of life and society that people have been living with since the beginning of civilization. It’s an intricately layered topic, interconnecting with the law, and how different crime may be in their own respective areas.

Recent Developments

With rates of crime constantly increasing, decreasing, and factors of law enforcement fluctuating as time goes on, it can be a bit tricky to keep track of what’s been going on in the community. Here in Montgomery County, the cases have been on the rise and have therefore led to many changes within the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and may have brought up some concerns about the community, including updates on a recent missing persons case, several shooting reports in Silver Spring and Layhill, as well as the current rates of crime. Would this mean crime rates in Montgomery County will only get worse from here? Not necessarily. Here’s everything you need to know about recent developments.

July Crimes, Arrests and Deaths

Halfway through the month of July, and Montgomery County has already seen a number of crimes, arrests and deaths, including the recovery of an adult male at Seneca Creek on Wednesday the 12th, later identified as Jose Israel Centeno Velasquez. According to a MCPD news release, his death is currently under investigation as a homicide.

Last Thursday, seventeen-year-old Tyrone Howard Brown was fatally shot in his vehicle before colliding with several parked cars in White Oak, Silver Spring. Furthermore, two men were killed during independent shootings in Silver Spring, along with the injuries of three women and two men outside Sole D’Italia Restaurant in Layhill, both locations proving common spots for firearm incidents this month.

Along with the expected thievery, missing persons reports, and arrests made so far this month, the MCPD has also come out with their own announcement. In a recent public safety briefing by Susan Farag on the topic of police department staffing, a clear and immense stress was communicated regarding vacant police jobs at a concerning high. Bringing up last year’s staffing report in the statement, 2022 reveals a whopping 144 MCPD police losses, with 89 being resignations and another 55 as retirements. A tremendous 64% increase from 2021. Moreover, with 30% of current officers eligible for retirement, the numbers are expected to rise if MCPD remains idle in the situation.

Looking to the Future

With an increase in crime solely from this month’s report, what can we expect to see in
the future regarding safety measures and crime in Montgomery County? With crime reports in
the mid 4000’s back at the beginning of the pandemic, the number has grown to the 5000’s and
counting since 2022. In MCPD’s Recent Crime Summary of reports in mid-january of this year,
the numbers were approximately 70 at the least. Similarly, in the crime report just this mid-july,
numbers of reports are shown to be around the same, if not slowly decreasing, which could prove
some hope for the safety of crime in the county. However, with the continuous struggle of low
police-employment rates, the numbers of crime can only help so much. If the employment rate of
officers continues with it’s high vacancy numbers, it’s expected that crime will remain in similar
patterns as it’s been so far this year. On the other hand, new recruits are required to spend
months training, so it is just as likely for a new group of officers to be training for employment
soon, in hopes the number of Montgomery County law enforcement will rise.

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