Captain Paul Larson, Commander of the 3rd Police District, provides this monthly report via email. You can request that your address be added to the list by emailing him at plarso@arlingtonva.us, or read it on the Barcroft Chat List.

Subject: September Crime report

Everyone:

I am sending the crime statistics for the month of September. Map attached.

September was a relatively quite month, knock on wood. We had 7 robberies and all but one was either along S. Four Mile Run Dr. or on the Westend of Columbia Pike. Three of the 7 were drunks being robbed by other drunks. There was an arrest in the case in the 5100 block of S. 10th place. This robbery was domestic related and should not have any impact on the area. There is one robbery that bothers me. On September 2nd, a woman and her two boys were walking in the 3600 block of S. 14th St., when two white hispanic males ran up from behind and snatched the woman's purse. The sons tried to run after them, but could not catch up. It happened during the nighttime hours and there is very little to go on. I do not have any other information at this time.

Our stolen car numbers are way down this month and are keeping pace with last year's record low numbers. There were only 4 stolen cars in the Third District last month. There is no pattern or trend in any of these cases. Congratulations.

Burglaries are also keeping pace with last year's numbers. However, there seems to be a pattern developing in Arlington Heights. We had two burglaries around the corner from Thomas Jefferson Middle School. These occurred in the evening hours and the suspect(s) gained entry by smashing out a basement window. Our burglary unit is working on these cases and hopefully will identify and arrest the person(s) responsible as soon as possible. The other burglaries do not have any pattern or trend.

We have been concentrating a great deal of time on the bike trail by Columbia Pike and S. Four Mile Run Dr. Officers have made over 30 arrests for drinking or drunk in public. While this is a seasonal issue and should disappear in the winter months, it is still a quality of life issue that has a lot people concerned. We will continue our aggressive enforcement.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that the Chief of Police has asked me to take command of the Special Operations Section. This transfer will be effective on October 29th. The Special Operations Section (SOS) is responsible for coordinating special events i.e. Air Force Memorial and the Marine Corp Marathon. SOS also is responsible for traffic enforcement, parking enforcement, school crossing guards and the SWAT Team, just to name of few. I should have my arms full.

Captain Michelle Nuneville will be taking my place as the Third District Commander. She has been with the police department for over 20 years and has a wealth of experience. She is currently in command of the Emergency Communications Center. Captain Nuneville and I attended George Mason University together and received our Masters in Public Administration in 2004. She is very approachable, but most importantly a good person.

It has been terrific working with you and I hope our paths cross in the future.

Captain Paul Larson
Third District Commander
Arlington County Police Department
1425 North Courthouse Road
Arlington, Virginia 22201
703-228-4097
plarso@arlingtonva.us

Map for September (.pdf format)

For a longer perspective, here are previous crime reports. The numbers were usually worse!

This page was revised on: October 11, 2006.