Crime rose in 2023 in Mason District
Crime is up in the Mason Police District in nearly all categories, station commander Capt. Patrick Brusch reported at a community meeting on Jan. 2.
There were 1,504 assaults in 2023, a 27 percent increase from the previous year.
Residential burglaries are up 100 percent, with 54 in 2023, compared to 27 in 2022. Commercial burglaries are up 13 percent, from 29 in 2022 to 32 in 2023.
There were 640 narcotics arrests in 2023. Mason leads the county in drug arrests and juvenile overdoses, Brusch said.
Related story: Culmore residents air concerns about crime
There were 89 robberies against persons, a 27 percent increase. Carjackings are down; there were two in 2023, compared to seven the year before.
Theft of vehicle parts and theft of items from vehicles also decreased last year from the previous year. There was no change in the number of auto thefts.
There were two homicides in each of the past two years.
Brusch urged community members to report crimes and suspicious incidents.
That’s the same message he emphasized at a community meeting on public safety at the Woodrow Wilson Library in Culmore on Dec. 5. Two days after that meeting, someone reported seeing a man who was wanted for indecent liberties with a juvenile. Police arrested Jovica Stanisic of Woodbridge, a registered sex offender, and later learned there were four additional juvenile victims who hadn’t contacted the police.
Related story: Man arrested in Culmore for indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is one of the most underreported crimes, Brusch said. Witnesses might think it’s a one-time thing, but offenders usually do it multiple times.
I wonder if the FCPD has all of this plotted on a map (were each crime occurred in Mason), and color coded by crime? Also, a table of case conclusions (arrests/convictions – open or closed), would be useful too. That information would inform taxpayers on both problem areas and effectiveness of police and the commonwealth’s attorney. However, I doubt that anything like this quantifiable and transparent information will be released due to political narratives & agendas of the Board of Supervisors & the Commonwealth’s attorney. We will be told the software to do this is to expensive (a lie), and collecting and verifying the data is difficult (another lie). If anyone knows if this is done or where it is, let everyone know.
It’s not perfect, but is this link a helpful start?
https://www.fcpod.org/pages/crime-data
Thanks! It’s a start so now the new Mason Supervisor can work to expand this data set to enable/ conduct real oversight as well as know where resources are needed for law enforcement to protect the community (if that is a real priority of his over more affordable housing in Mason).
I wonder why not all responses by fire and police are not on their blotters?
Where is our new supervisor Andres Jimenez? What’s his plan to collaborate with FCPD to combat this massive growth in crime? This is weakening the quality of life In our district.