Araby · Photo: Preservation Maryland · CC BY-SA 2.0Who polices Potomac Heights, and what they report
La Plata, 10 miles away, is the nearest town with a Safety Grade (C+). Potomac Heights has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Charles County. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Potomac Heights alone, and no Safety Grade. Widen the search to 25 miles and 5 graded towns turn up.
What stands out about safety in Potomac Heights
Policed by the county
Potomac Heights is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Charles County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Charles County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Potomac Heights. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Maryland towns with their own police figures are La Plata (C+, 10 mi), District Heights (C−, 22 mi), Capitol Heights (C−, 23 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Potomac Heights. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Charles County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Charles County without police of their own, which include Potomac Heights.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Charles County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest Maryland towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Plata | C+ | 10 mi | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| District Heights | C− | 22 mi | 5.2 | 18.2 |
| Capitol Heights | C− | 23 mi | 4.5 | 15.4 |
| Seat Pleasant | D | 24 mi | 7.2 | 28.1 |
| Colmar Manor | D | 25 mi | 2.8 | 36.7 |
| Mount Rainier | D | 25 mi | 5.8 | 28.1 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Potomac Heights. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Potomac Heights.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Potomac Heights’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what 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 Potomac Heights’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Potomac Heights’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Potomac Heights and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Head | — | — | — |
| Bryans Road | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Indian Head has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Bryans Road is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Potomac Heights
Is Potomac Heights, MD safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Potomac Heights. The nearest Maryland towns with a grade are La Plata (C+, 10 mi), District Heights (C−, 22 mi), Capitol Heights (C−, 23 mi).
Who polices Potomac Heights?
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office. Potomac Heights is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Charles County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Potomac Heights.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.