Weekend crowds, coupled with a thinning police presence, are clearing the way for gang activity in downtown Silver Spring, one police rep admitted.
“There’s definitely a gang presence down there,” the third police district’s Lt Stephen Auger told Silver Spring’s neighborhoods committee last Monday.
While the problem isn’t huge, Auger said downtown’s human swarms make it difficult to keep the area in check.
“There are just so many people down there. It’s so crowded,” Auger said. “We don’t have the manpower, frankly.”
Fewer players and haters arrive from Prince George’s and Montgomery counties wearing gang colors, Auger added. Known gang colors tend to draw the police’s attention, he said.
Gangs are getting busy all over Silver Spring, committee chairperson Alan Bowser claimed. Crews have tagged buildings in East Silver Spring and are getting down at the Long Branch Public Library.
Gang bangers are also using online social-networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook to recruit new members, Bowser said.
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This doesn’t “Auger” well, does it? News like this feeds on itself. Families hear about a “gang presence” in downtown Silver Spring–no matter how small–and all the sudden it’s back to Bethesda and Rockville for shopping and movies. Is that really what MoCo politicians want–to kill this little golden goose?
There’s a lot of new corporate tax money being generated in downtown. Can’t some of that revenue go toward putting more police on the street?
Thanks for your comments, Blaze.
You wrote:
Because the Ellsworth Drive shopping area is actually private property, some have suggested reinforcing the police presence with private security guards.
Any thoughts?
Brilliant idea… Rent-a-cops. I like it.
Still, the county’s not off the hook yet. Crime has increased recently in the residential neighborhood just north of downtown (the area between Colesville and Wayne from downtown to Sligo Creek Park). There have been several recent burglaries and assault/robbery incidents. But have the police stepped up their presence? Nope. There’s just no substitute for real-live law enforcement professionals. And Silver Spring needs more cops.
I have been living in Downtown Silver Spring for almost 5 years and I have always liked the wooded areas and small-town feel of this area. I am sorry to say that I have noticed the increase in less-than-desireable folks hanging around… and the increase in crime. At first, I was excited about the arrival of businesses and restaurants on Ellsworth, etc. However, when I go out in those areas, I have become increasingly uncomfortable. There does seem to be an increase of “shady individuals” and a decrease in police presence. Blaze is completely correct. It IS “back to Bethesda” for me. Due to the rise in crime, hooligans, and rude people, I will be leaving this cute little city this summer, and probably not look back. Best of luck to you at the “penguine,” I have enjoyed your website (any chance you have a “sister site” over in Bethesda?). Thank you.
The so-called gangs are just young kids with nothing better to do. The parents just drop there kids off and let them do what ever they want. If any liberals no where I can find a town with out crime, please let me know. You can thank the metro for our problems. So don’t blame the police or the so called rent a cops, blame your selves for being so liberal.
Your name is “fed up democrat” and your bashing liberals? I don’t get it.
There is a metro station in Downtown Bethesda. Do they have the same problems? Maybe you should stop being so “fed up” and start “looking up” your sources (and your spelling).
Editor’s note: Do our county’s public-education system proud — PLEASE check your spelling and avoid text-messaging abbreviations. Thank you! (June 6, 2007)
Fed-up Dem wrote:
There are indeed kids who have nothing better to do than work out their Ultimate Fighting moves on the turf.
Then there are kids who deal drugs, tag private property and mug people as an “organized” (used loosely) group. Those are the gangs that Lt Auger spoke of.
As far as Metro being the root of crime in Silver Spring, I would disagree. Long Branch and parts of Takoma Park have issues with crime, but no Metro in sight. Ditto for Gaithersburg.
Ultimately, I believe crime is about the haves versus the have-nots, and I’m not just talking about money.
Thanks for sharing your views, Fed Up Dem.
I think Fed up democrat has a good point. People that live in Downtown Silver Spring area think they own the entire city. All they do is complain to the city and local business owners. Let the businesses do their jobs. I’ve never seen a large group of hippies, cry babies, democrats and liberals in one place before. I say the police should place the city in lock down since everyone thinks it’s a city of crime. This is the city of catch 22’s.
You see hippies and liberals in Downtown Silver Spring? I see people of ALL AGES dressing and acting like low-class individuals. I see them walking around being loud and rude, driving with no consideration toward others, loitering in the parking lots, etc. It is really disgusting. People who clearly don’t know how to act seem to flock to the area. And those are the people presumably following the laws!
I fully believe that there is an increase in crime. Especially since my neighbors had their car to broken in to just the other day. And we live on one of the “nicer streets.”
Please stop trying to change the argument to something political. The point here is the increase in crime and the fact that the MoCo police don’t have the man power to address the crowded situation Downtown. Last time I checked, criminals will hit a target regardless of their political beliefs. What are we citizens going to do about it? Stop blaming and start brainstorming!
Thank you for your time.
Question.. what does Ellsworth being private property have to do with it? Do the police not have an obligation to protect members of the community everywhere within the county? And I would argue as well, that ellsworth is defacto public space. It’s not like we’re talking about increased police presence in my apartment lobby here – although if there was a gang presence there, I’d be all for it. Anywho… my instinct tells me that because of the way the public uses (and is allowed to use) the ellsworth “plaza” it’s public space for all practical purposes and the police should protect it as they do any other place where citizens gather. Anywho.. that’s my two cents.
I have lived in ESS for 22 years and always found it walkable and convenient. However, recently Police Captain Betsy Davis warned us that crime is definitely up in the area (14-18% depending on source) and that it is too dangerous to walk alone anywhere in our neighborhood after dark. She said she would not even walk alone with a dog.
The irony is that now that the downtown has been rennovated, I am driving more than I ever have and walking less.
Whatever you believe the reason is for this change, it has changed by quality of life and I will be working toward solutions, including pushing the County for more protection.
Whatever the reason, it is sad.
A couple of comments:
First, the whole “Metro Theory” of crime in Silver Spring is just plain loony. As someone pointed out, there are Metro stations in Bethesda, but you don’t see groups of marauding teens roaming the downtown over there.
I’ll present a different theory: It’s called “Hit ‘Em Where They Ain’t”. Coined for a no-brainer baseball strategy, it applies rather well to the situation here in Silver Spring. Criminals aren’t stupid. They commit crimes in areas that present the possibly of high rewards and low risk of getting caught. So, downtown SS, with its–what, three?–cops for every 5,000 visitors is a great place to operate. And the prospects are even better in the residential areas around the city center.
I would argue, based on anecdotal evidence and a weekly reading of the local paper’s crime page, that the actual incidence of crime is *higher* in the residential neighborhoods surrounding downtown, than it is in the Ellsworth open-mall area.
(Does anyone have actual numbers to compare? Jennifer? Have there really been all that many instances of crime around the Ellsworth corridor? I’m really interested, because–let’s be frank–a lot of [white] people have a false sense of fear down there simply because they’re made “uncomfortable” by the presence of black and brown teenagers. Granted, some of those teens are being “loud” or “rude”–but nothing out of the realm of ordinary teen behavior.)
Anyway, Bethesda doesn’t have these problems for a few reasons.
1) Cops are visible and responsive over there.
2) Bethesda doesn’t border the kinds of DC neighborhoods that Silver Spring borders. Are there any movie theaters or shopping areas in Petworth or whatever? No. Kids in those neighborhoods come here because its closer than downtown DC and easy to get to.
Keep rockin’ that bad-ass tag, Johnny Blaze! You asked:
My stats come from the MoCo PD’s crime updates. Those numbers are what they are. In this story, Lt Auger does not present hard numbers, but he says:
I believe the perception of crime depends on one’s expectations of Silver Spring’s revitalization. For some, one fight on Ellsworth Drive marks the end of civilization. For others, it’s just teens being stupid.
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