There have been fewer accidents, more burglaries in Annandale during pandemic

Members of the community express their appreciation for the officers at the Franconia Police District. [FCPD]

Traffic accidents are down during the coronavirus lockdown in the Annandale/Mason District area, but there’s been an increase in certain crimes.  

According to data shared by Capt. Brooke Wright, commander of the Mason Police Station, and Lt. Jane Burns at a virtual meeting with the community May 14, there were 132 calls for service regarding accidents in April, compared to 299 in January. 

But with much fewer drivers on the road, there should even less, Wright says. There is more speeding and reckless driving, and many of the crashes that have occurred are due to speeding. 

Burglaries have increased more than 50 percent during January-April 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, Wright says, noting closed businesses are more vulnerable to break-ins. 

Larcenies are up, as well, which tend to be crimes of opportunity. Wright urges people to lock their cars and sheds and turn on an external light on their homes at night. 

There’s been a big increase in people experiencing a mental health crisis – 621 incidents in January-April 2020 compared to 483 in January-April 2019 in the Mason Police District. There’s also been a slight increase in suicide threats. 

Service calls for domestic violence are down, but Wright believes many such incidents are underreported. She urges people who knows someone in crisis to reach out to the police so they can connect them to the appropriate service. 

“We’re seeing more frustration on the streets,” Wright says. “Try to be more patient with people.” 

There haven’t been any positive COVID cases at the Mason Police Station, although a few people have been quarantined as a cautionary measure, she says. 

Police officers are limiting their in-person contacts with the public unless they’re responding to a situation involving violence. 

The Fairfax County Police Department is seeing a jump in fraud incidents related to coronavirus, reports Detective Amy Nicolio with the Major Crimes Bureau. 

The police have dealt with cases involving scammers who are:

• sending emails and texts and calling people and saying they’re from the U.S. Treasury Department and the individual needs to hand over personal and banking information in order to get a stimulus check; 
• looking in mailboxes for stimulus checks; 
• selling fake COVID treatments, vaccines, and investments;
• getting people to give up personal information by telling them they’re from a hospital and someone near them tested positive for COVID;
• asking people to donate to fake COVID-related charities; and 
• sending phishing emails that trick people into downloading malware that compromises their personal information.