Nice Things In Takoma Park

In a recent statement about the rise in burglaries in Takoma Park over the last month, Takoma Park Police Chief Ronald Ricucci quoted one of the burglars as saying, "…the word on the street is that Takoma Park is an easy hit with residences with so many valuables inside."

This struck me as a bit odd. Census data show that the Washington Metro Region is one of the wealthiest areas in the country and Montgomery County is one of the wealthier areas within that region. Montgomery County is the second richest county in Maryland and tenth richest in the nation, based on median household income census data from 2006-2008.

So why is Takoma Park targeted as an easy hit with so many valuables inside if a place like Bethesda has a higher medium household income? Census data from 2000 show Bethesda's median household income was $99,102 while Takoma Park's in 2000 was $48,490.

But the crime stats show that Bethesda is being burglarized less than Takoma Park. And if you use the logic that higher income means nicer things, according to the burglars arrested, Bethesda should be experiencing a higher burglary rate. But they aren't.

Since Takoma Park is a city and is much smaller than Bethesda, which is unincorporated, I looked at burglaries per square mile to try to even the playing field. In 2007 Bethesda had 34 burglaries per square mile (449 total) and in 2008 Bethesda had 37 per square mile (485 total). Takoma Park had 59 per square mile in 2007 (140 total) and 57 per square mile in 2008 (135 total). That's a significant difference.

Maybe Takoma Park residents just love buying cool stuff. Maybe Bethesda residents are hoarding their money so would-be burglars find nothing upon entry. Maybe someday I'll do market research into the spending habits of the different towns. Probably not, though.

The only thing we can do is lock our doors and shut our windows. This is why we can't have nice things, Takoma Park.