Overall crime in the Washington, DC region has decreased 13 percent in the first four months of 2025 compared with the same time period in 2024 according to a new data dashboard created by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and now live on the COG website.

During this time period, all categories of crimes against persons and property are showing declines regionwide, including robbery which decreased 32 percent, homicide which decreased 30 percent, rape which decreased 23 percent, and aggravated assault which decreased by 21 percent. The dashboard and latest information on crime trends were presented today by COG staff and area law enforcement to the region’s elected officials at the COG Board of Directors meeting.

The COG Regional Crime Dashboard is the first unified, near real-time dashboard for DC, Maryland, and Virginia that aggregates and displays recent crime data from 24 local jurisdictions. The dashboard is a publicly available resource for police officials, government, business, and nonprofit leaders, the media, and area residents to access data and better understand crime trends in the region.

“This new resource of accurate and timely data is going to be incredibly valuable for policymakers, helping us more quickly develop shared strategies to fight crime and push back against the sometimes-incorrect perceptions of public safety when crime is actually decreasing,” said COG Board Chair and Fairfax County Supervisor Rodney Lusk.

Snapshot of COG regional crime dashboard on June 11, 2025 showing crime trends over first four months of 2025 compared to 2024

“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.”

Since last year, the Council of Governments has been working with area law enforcement to develop the online tool. Previously, annual crime data at the regional level would be published about nine months into the year – delayed by data reporting timelines and resulting in old information of diminished use to policymakers and law enforcement leaders.

In 2024, at the request of elected officials on the COG Board of Directors, COG’s Police Chiefs Committee unanimously approved the creation of a regional, near real-time dashboard leveraging the most current data available at the local and state levels that would be updated at frequencies as often as daily up to 45 days, depending on the jurisdiction. COG notes that its data is posted with a lag period to account for the variation in reporting methods and that data may be updated based on ongoing submissions and investigations by local agencies.

In addition to current data and trends, the dashboard also includes a section with historical information dating back to 2002.

The dashboard features information from 24 area governments, who are members of COG: the District of Columbia, Town of Bladensburg, City of Bowie, City of College Park, Charles County, City of Frederick, Frederick County, City of Gaithersburg, City of Greenbelt, City of Hyattsville, City of Laurel, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, City of Rockville, City of Takoma Park, City of Alexandria, Arlington County, City of Fairfax, Fairfax County, City of Falls Church, Loudoun County, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park, and Prince William County.

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COG Regional Crime Dashboard