BETTER POLICING THROUGH BETTER MANAGEMENT

As a Silver Spring business person, the recent robberies near the Silver
Spring Metro are very alarming ("Early-morning robberies plague area near
the Silver Spring Metro," June 7 story). I fear the occurrence of these
robberies may be a symptom of mismanagement by the county police department.

According to the Maryland Uniform Crime Reports, 856 robberies were
reported in the county in 2004 and 310 robbery arrests. On the other hand,
there were 2,746 drug offense arrests; 1,536 of the arrests were for the
possession of marijuana.

It is shocking that as measured by outcomes, the police department would
spend five times more effort on marijuana possession than on major crimes
of violence like robbery. No wonder "robberies plague" areas of our
country. Does this sound like proper management of very expensive crime
fighting resources?

ERIC E. STERLING

Silver Spring