A new tool from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) debuted Wednesday. It revealed the crime rate in the County, as well as the entire National Capital Region, is decreasing, according to a new regional dashboard. Overall, crime fell 13% in the region during the first four months of 2025 compared to 2024.
During this time period, all categories of crimes against persons and property show declines regionwide. That includes robbery down 32 percent, homicide down 30 percent, rape down 23 percent, and aggravated assault which decreased by 21 percent.
The dashboard covers 24 jurisdictions. From January 1 to the end of April of 2024, these areas experienced 37,000 crimes. This year, they counted 32,000 crimes.
In Montgomery County, including the police departments of Rockville, Takoma Park and Gaithersburg, there was one homicide in May and 1,189 car thefts that same month. In May of 2024, there were two homicides and 1,999 car thefts.
The statistics, according to the COG, allow officials from the police, government, business and nonprofit communities, the media and residents to better understand crime trends in their region.
“This dashboard is a great example of collaboration among area law enforcement agencies and COG to provide a more current picture of public safety in our communities,” said City of Laurel Police Chief Russ Hamill, who serves as chair of the COG Police Chiefs Committee. “With greater access to crime data, our police departments hope to foster higher crime reporting rates, increased community trust, and more effective crime prevention through community awareness.”
🚨🚓Now online: COG’s first-of-its-kind, near real-time crime dashboard! Providing public access to crime data from 24 jurisdictions across DC, MD, and VA—in one place. @DCPoliceDept @mcpnews@PGPDNews @FairfaxCountyPD @GWBoardofTrade@GW_Partnership @consortium_dc @TheIACP pic.twitter.com/QlV3YMnHzS
— COG (@MWCOG) June 11, 2025
