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Oxon Cove ParkOxon Cove Park · Photo: Pubdog · Public domain
Safety in Forest Heights · Not graded

Crime reported in Forest Heights, MD

Forest Heights’ police reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025.

Violent crimes
12
reported to the FBI, 2024
Property crimes
33
reported to the FBI, 2024
Nearest graded town
7 mi
Capitol Heights (C−)
1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 13 property crimes reported

And about 5 violent crimes, in 2024. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (12.8)Violent crime (4.7)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2024

Forest Heights4.7
Rest of MD8.9
U.S. (FBI)3.6

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2024

Forest Heights12.8
Rest of MD30.3
U.S. (FBI)17.7

Crimes reported to police in 2024 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

By year

The years Forest Heights’ police reported

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of Maryland. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.

Show as a table
YearForest HeightsRest of MarylandForest HeightsRest of Maryland
2022not reported27.4not reported10.8
20235.430.71.69.0
202412.830.34.78.9
2025not reported27.0not reported7.3

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

45 crimes reported in 2024

12 violent and 33 property, as reported to the FBI by Forest Heights’ police.

2024 offenses reported

Larceny / theft16
Burglary3
Vehicle theft14
Aggravated assault5
Robbery4
Rape1
Homicide2
Arson0
12
violent crimes
33
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

Nearest with figures

The nearest Maryland towns with a Safety Grade

Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

TownGradeDistanceViolentProperty
Capitol HeightsC−7 mi4.515.4
District HeightsC−8 mi5.218.2
Seat PleasantD9 mi7.228.1
Colmar ManorD9 mi2.836.7
Mount RainierD10 mi5.828.1
CheverlyC−10 mi2.826.1

Straight-line distance from the center of Forest Heights. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Forest Heights.

On the roads

Six people died in crashes on Forest Heights’s roads in 2019–2023

Forest Heights had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 5 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.

That is more than is typical for Maryland towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (5.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Forest Heights’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Forest Heights’s own rate (45.4) is context, not a ranking.

6
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
5
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
45.4
per 100,000 a year · Maryland towns of 2,500–5,000: 5.2

Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.

Next door

Forest Heights and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

Glassmanor: not gradedOxon Hill: not gradedNational Harbor: not gradedGlassmanorOxon HillNational HarborForest Heights
A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
Glassmanor———
Oxon Hill———
National Harbor———

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Glassmanor, Oxon Hill and National Harbor are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
  • One number for all of Forest Heights. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
  • Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Forest Heights’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,573 in 2024); our figure for Forest Heights is 2,618 (2025 Census estimate).
  • Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.

How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →

Questions about safety in Forest Heights

Is Forest Heights, MD safe?

There is no Safety Grade for Forest Heights. Forest Heights’ police reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. The nearest Maryland towns with a grade are Capitol Heights (C−, 7 mi), District Heights (C−, 8 mi), Seat Pleasant (D, 9 mi).

Who polices Forest Heights?

Forest Heights’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Forest Heights”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Forest Heights.

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Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2024, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.