To view the whole map and to sign up for Crime Alerts in your area, please click on the below link.

The reduction of crime and victimization is a priority of the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Sharing information about crime trends is essential to this endeavor. Annually, nearly three-fourths of all criminal activity within Carroll County is related to theft. Thieves routinely steal items from unlocked homes, garages, and sheds, open motor vehicles, and property left unsecured and unattended in yards. Members of the community, working in collaboration with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, can help to significantly reduce these crimes.

For an overview of last year’s Crime in Maryland Report, please visit the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention Website at: www.goccp.maryland.gov

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office is pleased to offer these crime prevention tips and resources contained within these pages. We also hope that you will share this information with your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors. Using these guidelines will help you stay informed about crime occuring within your community, identify suspicious persons and activities, and adopt proactive measures to reduce the possibility of becoming a crime victim. As always, should you encounter any situation that requires the assistance of law enforcement please call 911, or the toll free anonymous TIPS hotline at 1-888-399-TIPS (8477).

Crime prevention is:

“Being aware that a crime CAN occur, and ANTICIPATING the type, location, and time, and TAKING ACTION to reduce the chance of it happening.”

3 Elements of Crime There are three elements that must be present before a criminal can commit an illegal act: DESIRE, ABILITY and OPPORTUNITY. By eliminating just one of these components, crime can be averted. While control over the first two elements, DESIRE and ABILITY rests solely with the suspect, you can have considerable impact on the third – OPPORTUNITY.

Crime prevention is largely using instinct, action, and common sense, to eliminate (or greatly reduce) a criminal’s opportunity. Your responsibility lies in removing opportunity to decrease the likelihood of becoming a victim. While the blame for illegal acts rests with the criminal, the fact remains we all have a crucial role to play in the area of crime prevention.

Crime prevention requires a holistic approach involving every member of the community. The collective actions of everyone within a neighborhood are vital to success.

For more information on how you can prevent crime in your neighborhood, please view and/or print our brochure entitled "Understanding Crime Prevention".

If you would like more information on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of Identity Theft or what to do if you should become a victim, please view/print our brochure "Don't Be A Victim".