After a review of the City of Annapolis Open Data Portal, Eye On Annapolis has discovered that rapes in the City are trending up considerably so far in 2023. Between January 1, 2022 and September 7, 2022 there were 8 reported rapes (none were publicly reported) in the City; and in the same period for 2023 there have been 11 (with only two* publicly reported). This is a 37.5% increase.
* As of September 7, 2023.
SLIDE FOR COMPARISON
NOTE: The Sliders are not appearing for everyone, so here are the maps side by side.
We asked about the lack of public notice of rapes in the City. While it is understood that a victim’s right to privacy is paramount, no one believes that details or personally identifiable information should be released; however, a non-victim’s right to be aware of a potentially dangerous area or situation must also be considered. And while Chief Edward Jackson did not respond, Captain Amy Miguez said, “All reported rapes are included on our crime map and are reported to the State and FBI. The rapes we report on the daily report or via press releases are rapes where there is a need to notify the public. Rapes usually occur between people who know each other and if we included it on our daily report the suspect might become aware that the rape has been reported. Then, the suspect might try to destroy evidence or take other actions that would either further harm the victim or affect our ability to successfully prosecute the case. “
After these graphics were created, The Capital reported that the summer crime initiative has been a success and that crime for the 8-week period was down with the exception of homicides. We did ask for a comment on crime in general from the Chief and again, Captain Miguez responded, “After seeing the increase in shootings and homicides this year we took a proactive approach with our summer crime plan. The plan saw officers assigned to the communities most affected by the violence this year. We had officers walking foot patrols in those communities and proactive warrant service, stolen car recoveries and gun seizures throughout the city. The plan started on July 14th and since then we have had no shootings or homicides in those areas. Unfortunately, we did have a murder and shooting in one community (Bywater Mutual Homes) and a shooting in another community (Annapolis Gardens). Those were in communities that had not been most affected. We are going to continue being proactive with our fall crime plan and hopefully we will see even better results.” (Note: their response was sent prior to the most recent homicide.)
Looking at crime in general, comparing January 1 to September 7 in 2022 and 2023, it does appear that crime is indeed up. The images below represent crimes against property or people and do not include shots fired incidents. According to the gunfire dashboard, in all of 2022, there were 34 incidents of shots being fired; in 2023 so far there have been 26.
SLIDE FOR COMPARISON
NOTE: The Sliders are not appearing for everyone, so here are the maps side by side.
And while the crime maps are posted online by the Annapolis Police Department, they are not the easiest to find. At the bottom of every crime story, Eye On Annapolis includes a searchable Google map for the City and County of the incidents that the police and fire departments publicly release. This map is updated daily. We have done this since 2019 as a public service.
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