NE DC Metro Stop Tallied Highest Numbers
The Brookland Metro Station has topped the list for the most reported crimes in the DMV, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Quarterly Security Report,
There were 44 reported incidents at the Brookland Metro Station between the months of January and August this year, most of which were thefts of purses and electronics. WMATA’s security reportshows that reported crime at Metro stations increased 37 percent with 1,015 reported crimes in the first eight months of 2012 and 1,084 reported crimes during the same time in 2013.
A Metro worker at Brookland Station who only wanted to have her last name used said she was surprised by the crime report. “They say it’s a lot of robberies here, but I haven’t noticed anything,” Pettaway said.
As she was speaking, a group of youth rushed through the fare gate without paying. “The young people around here are terrible, they always commit fare evasion,” Pettaway said.
One of the possible reasons crimes are so high at Brookland could be that barely anyone knows of the frequency of these crimes. Joe, 32, a resident of Washington, D.C., was not aware of Brookland’s status with the most reported crimes. “That’s crazy….I think that’s crazy. I wouldn’t agree with that,” said Joe, who declined to provide his last name.
Metro’s quarterly security report also showed 59 percent of crimes on the Metro system involved theft of cell phones or bicycles. Cell phone and electronic thefts are most common because “the action is easy, the device is easy to conceal, the payoff is lucrative and prosecution is difficult,” the quarterly report stated.
Breana Zakszeski, 35, a resident of Maryland, said, “It’s shocking because these crimes have been happening in the morning and in the afternoon.” Zakszeski rides the train from Brookland Metro Station every day on her way home from work. Even when she was a student at Catholic University years ago she never encountered crime at the Brookland Station. “I ride it every day, I haven’t had any problems,” Zakszeski said.
Metro customers need to be aware of the crimes that are happening at these metro stations. A D.C. high school student, Shay, 17, said, “It’s not that dangerous to me because I know the area. I know to put my phone away and not to come out a night.”
Right behind Brookland Metro Station on Metro’s list of stations with the most reported crimes are Deanwood, Minnesota Avenue, Gallery Place, Rhode Island, L’Enfant Plaza, Capitol Heights, Benning Road, West Hyattsville and Vienna.
