Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station · Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0Who polices Silver Spring, and what they report
Silver Spring has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Police Department reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Silver Spring alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Silver Spring
Policed by the county
Silver Spring is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Montgomery County Police Department’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Montgomery County Police Department covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Silver Spring. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Maryland towns with their own police figures are Takoma Park (D−, 2 mi), Chevy Chase Village (C+, 4 mi), Hyattsville (D−, 5 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Silver Spring. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Montgomery County Police Department reports
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Montgomery County without police of their own, which include Silver Spring.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Montgomery County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Montgomery 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.
The nearest Maryland towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Takoma Park | D− | 2 mi | 4.7 | 53.7 |
| Chevy Chase Village | C+ | 4 mi | 0.0 | 25.6 |
| Hyattsville | D− | 5 mi | 7.2 | 38.5 |
| University Park | B | 5 mi | 0.4 | 12.5 |
| Mount Rainier | D | 5 mi | 5.8 | 28.1 |
| Brentwood | C+ | 5 mi | 2.7 | 14.3 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Silver Spring. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Silver Spring.
10 people died in crashes on Silver Spring’s roads in 2019–2023
Silver Spring had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 7 were pedestrians. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 2.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Maryland towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.1, 54 towns).
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.
Silver Spring and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevy Chase | — | — | — |
| Takoma Park | D− | 4.7 | 53.7 |
| Four Corners | — | — | — |
| South Kensington | — | — | — |
| Hillandale | — | — | — |
| Langley Park | — | — | — |
| Forest Glen | — | — | — |
| Adelphi | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Chevy Chase, Four Corners, South Kensington, Hillandale, Langley Park, Forest Glen and Adelphi are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 Silver Spring
Is Silver Spring, MD safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Silver Spring. Silver Spring has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Police Department reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Silver Spring alone, and no Safety Grade. The nearest Maryland towns with a grade are Takoma Park (D−, 2 mi), Chevy Chase Village (C+, 4 mi), Hyattsville (D−, 5 mi).
Who polices Silver Spring?
The Montgomery County Police Department. Silver Spring is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Montgomery County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Silver Spring.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.