Turning the corner on crime - washingtonpost.com

IN THE SUMMER of 2005, when Prince George's County was beset by a wave of homicides, Police Chief Melvin C. High threw a sort of public temper tantrum in which he derided the officers on his force as lazy. Less than a year later, when the murder rate had dipped somewhat, he lauded the leadership of "the great men and women of this department" for the improved performance -- and credited his own strategy of flooding crime hot spots with police officers.

Mr. High has since retired, but his bipolar analysis helps illustrate the truism that there's a degree of guesswork involved in explaining why crime rates dip anywhere. Since then, crime in Prince George's generally, and the number of murders in particular, have continued to slip, more or less in line with a national trend. Current chief Roberto L. Hylton, in the job a little more than a year, recently applauded the drop, citing what he called his efforts to hold officers accountable for their work.