How to Report a Crime
Review the following information to make sure the Online Crime Report Form is appropriate for your needs.
- If you wish to report an alcohol violation that doesn’t necessarily require a police officer to respond, contact the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at (410) 222-4700.
- If you wish to speak to a police officer, please call our non-emergency line at (410) 222-8610.
This is not an immediate response system. Online Crime Reporting allows you to report certain crimes or incidents online without waiting for a police officer to respond to your location or leaving your home but still have the incident documented. Reports submitted through this portal will be reviewed on the day submitted or next business day. By using this online resource you enable police officers to remain in service for higher priority calls.
Your crime or incident must have occurred in Anne Arundel County, Maryland to file your report. The Arundel County Police Department does not have primary jurisdiction in the City of Annapolis, BWI Airport (including Amtrak or light rail trains), or any federally owned land or property such as Fort Meade, NSA, Naval Academy, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, etc. If the incident occurred in or at any of these locations, you must contact the appropriate agency with primary jurisdiction.
All incidents reported will be reviewed on the day of or the next business day following receipt of the online report form. A member of the Police Department will then contact you via your preferred contact method (specified in the online report form).
Qualifying Statements
If all of the following statements are true, please proceed to the online crime report form:
- You do not know the identity of the suspect
- The incident is not currently in progress
- The incident did not occur within the last two hours
- The incident is not a violent crime or an attempted violent crime (examples: assault, kidnapping and robbery)
- The incident is not a sex crime or attempted sex crime
- A vehicle or license plate was not stolen
- The incident does not involve a theft of or a loss of any firearms
- The incident was not a breaking and entering or attempt to your home or business
- The incident is not a type of reportable motor vehicle accident
- The incident does not involve a race, religion, gender, ethnic or national origin, disability and/or sexual orientation motivated crime
Required Information
Please be prepared to provide the following information:
- Date and time range of incident (if the actual date/time is unknown, provide the last known date/time before the crime occurred)
- Location of incident (where the crime occurred in Anne Arundel County)
- Make/model, description and serial numbers of stolen items (if applicable)
- Make/model, description, vehicle identification number and tag number if involved vehicles (if applicable)
Filing a false police report is a crime. Under Maryland Criminal Law Article §9-501: A person may not make, or cause to be made, a statement, report, or complaint that the person knows to be false as a whole or in material part, to a law enforcement officer of the State, of a county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State, or of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Police with intent to deceive and to cause an investigation or other action to be taken as a result of the statement, report, or complaint. Maximum possible penalty 6 months or a fine not exceeding $500 or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, if a crime took place outside of Anne Arundel County, please call the police Department for that county/city/town.
Exception: if the event occurred in the City of Annapolis, Crofton or Federal installations.
Attempted Burglary, Breaking and Entering of detached residential sheds and garages, Animal complaints that occurred earlier and Animal Control is unavailable and there is no immediate danger.
Some crimes may require evidence collection, photography or other investigative procedures which require an officer to respond to the scene of the crime.
During normal business hours: Monday-Friday 7 am-3 pm, you may be contacted by means of your contact method you identified on the form for additional information. Your report should be completed within 72 hours.
The report will be available for dissemination from Central Records located at 8495 Veterans Highway, Millersville MD 21108 after approximately 10 days. For more information about obtaining a copy, click on the following link: https://www.aacounty.org/departments/police-department/central-records/index.html
Internet Crime is any crime or illegal online activity committed on the Internet, through the Internet or using the Internet.
Internet Crimes include:
- Identity Theft
- Internet Credit Card Theft and Fraud
- Theft by Deception (Theft up to $5,000) - obtaining property over the Internet by willful deception.
A known suspect is when you or someone else knows the person or where to find the person who committed the crime or the license plate number of the vehicle the suspect(s) were in.