Prince William County officials say crackdown on illegals reason for crime decline
WASHINGTON - Prince William County officials Friday attributed a 19.3 percent decline in crimes against people from 2006 to 2007 to last year’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart said the major difference between Prince William and other counties where crime is on the rise is the county’s “very aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration.”
“That’s the major difference,” he said. “As illegal immigrants are leaving, our crime rates are decreasing.”
But Nancy Lyall of Mexicans Without Borders, an immigrant advocacy group, said that the declining crime rates are misleading. “To attribute the crime rate to the [immigrant] resolution is not true,” she said. “It may be impacting the crime rate, but it’s not impacting the crime, especially against the immigrant community. There are a lot of crimes unreported [now] because immigrants are afraid of going to the police.”
Prince William’s homicides declined by 43.8 percent, from 16 to nine, the incidence of rape increased by 33.3 percent, from 21 to 28, robberies declined by 22.5 percent, from 351 to 272, and aggravated assault declined by 18.2 percent, from 379 to 310, said the study released last week.
“That’s a huge reduction in crime in and of itself,” Stewart said