Washington Metro Police listed the College Park Metro Station as the sixth-most dangerous D.C. area metro stop, prompting plans to up security.
Now that the College Park Metro Station has been listed as one of the area’s most dangerous, the Metro Transit Police Department is preparing to add additional security measures.
In a report by Metro Police released Wednesday that analyzes offenses reported between April 1 and June 30 at stations in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, College Park’s station was listed at No. 6 on the 10 most dangerous local stops. All 86 Metro stops were analyzed for reports of aggravated assault, larceny, murder, burglary, motor vehicle theft, rape and robbery. Although six of the most dangerous stations are in Prince George’s County, Metro Police officials said College Park landed a spot for its high rate of property crimes.
Ronald Pavlik, Metro Police deputy chief of patrol operations, said a high number of stolen bicycles and thefts from vehicles have occurred in the last few months. According to the report, College Park saw 20 reported crimes in the last quarter. In comparison, 30 crimes were reported at the most dangerous spots — Suitland and Deanwood, which tied for No. 1 — and 11 crimes were reported at the six stops tying for No. 10.
“It’s not violent against people, it’s not person-on-person crime, it’s more theft from cars and of bikes in College Park,” he said. “We’re trying to educate people to not have expensive things in sight.”
The station will soon be receiving added security cameras to its parking lots and garages to combat the trend, Pavlik said. The cameras will be modeled off those being added to the Greenbelt station and will likely come in the next 30 to 90 days, he noted.
Metro police will also be handing out wipes to remove GPS ring smudges from car windshields and steering wheel locks to Metro riders. October is Crime Prevention Month, Pavlik said, and police will also be handing out additional literature to raise awareness.
Pavlik said College Park has repeatedly been in or close to the top-10 list for years. New Carrollton had been No. 1, he said, but more officers were positioned at that station until it was knocked lower on the list.
The Prince George’s County and Washington stops are the most dangerous, Pavlik said, because of the high amounts of traffic they bring to the area.
“There’s higher numbers of crime there because there are multiple stations and multiple lines,” Pavlik said. “There are higher crime rates at transfer stations because there are more people there. The list does fluctuate, but it doesn’t change significantly because of this.”
Some students said increasing officer presence at the station would be a better solution to the high rate of crime than passing out wipes and information.
“There should definitely be more patrols in the Metro area,” junior environmental science major Jessica Haviland said. “I’ve been on and off the Metro multiple times and have never seen cops there.”
Junior computer science major Eric Krokos said Metro Police should “post more officers at the station as often as they can.”
Metro police are already looking for solutions to that, according to Pavlik. Although Prince George’s County and University Police do not have jurisdiction at the College Park metro station, Pavlik said Metro Police may begin giving other departments SmarTrip Cards for free entrance to parking garages for additional patrols.
“We’re just trying to keep up police presence,” he said.
And although some students said the potential danger at the station makes them nervous, Krokos said he will not change his routine in order to avoid the College Park Metro Station.
“I may be more cautious but I probably won’t go to the station any less or more often because of it,” Krokos said. “It’s the only way to get from here to D.C. without a car, I don’t have a choice.”
egan@umdbk.com
