Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0The nearest town with a Safety Grade to Scaggsville is Laurel, 3 miles away
Widen the search to 25 miles and 26 graded towns turn up. Scaggsville has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Howard County. The Howard County Police Department reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Scaggsville alone, and no Safety Grade. Laurel is the only graded town within 10 miles.
What stands out about safety in Scaggsville
Policed by the county
Scaggsville is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Howard County Police Department’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Howard County Police Department covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Scaggsville. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Maryland towns with their own police figures are Laurel (D, 3 mi), Greenbelt (D−, 10 mi), Berwyn Heights (C+, 10 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Scaggsville. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Howard County Police Department reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Howard County without police of their own, which include Scaggsville.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Howard County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Howard County Police Department
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. Agencies that reported only zeros (the Sheriff’s Office here) are left out. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel | D | 3 mi | 4.7 | 43.9 |
| Greenbelt | D− | 10 mi | 6.4 | 44.9 |
| Berwyn Heights | C+ | 10 mi | 2.3 | 13.7 |
| New Carrollton | C− | 12 mi | 3.1 | 20.6 |
| University Park | B | 12 mi | 0.4 | 12.5 |
| Riverdale Park | D | 12 mi | 6.6 | 26.2 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Scaggsville. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Scaggsville.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Four people died in crashes on Scaggsville’s roads in 2019–2023
Scaggsville had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for Maryland towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Scaggsville’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Scaggsville’s own rate (7.6) 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.
Scaggsville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | — | — | — |
| North Laurel | — | — | — |
| Burtonsville | — | — | — |
| West Laurel | — | — | — |
| Fulton | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Columbia, North Laurel, Burtonsville, West Laurel and Fulton are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their 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 Scaggsville
Is Scaggsville, MD safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Scaggsville. The nearest Maryland towns with a grade are Laurel (D, 3 mi), Greenbelt (D−, 10 mi), Berwyn Heights (C+, 10 mi).
Who polices Scaggsville?
The Howard County Police Department. Scaggsville is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Howard 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 Scaggsville.
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.