P.G. County Police, and Officer Livergood were in attendance and took questions from the audience. Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services for the City of College Park, was also in attendance.
The Community Response Team is a new County program. Their focus is very
community oriented. If they see a window up at a house that looks like it may have
been burglarized, they’ll knock on doors to try to find out if everything’s okay. They
keep an eye out for things like graffit, abandoned cars, etc. Officer Taylor’s beat is
southern College Park. College Park is divided into two beats – north of Greenbelt
Road, and south of Greenbelt Road. The officers have been attending community
meetings.
Bob Ryan pointed out that all of our primary police are P.G. County officers.
Contract officers have College Park stickers on their cars. They also work with the
Berwyn Heights, University of Maryland, and Greenbelt officers.
Officer Livergood from District 3 was in attendance. He gets e-mails from Lieutenant Coletti about speeders, people hanging out in a specific area, etc.
Bob Ryan said that as of this coming Sunday, the City will be up to full strength
with its contract officers. The contract program supplements the regular police
we’re paying for with County taxes. Contract officers will supplement the P.G.
County police during really serious things like the recent home invasion in College
Park Woods. In such instances, we might be short of officers to respond
immediately to incidents like the smashed car windows.
An attendee related an incident where he witnessed someone trying to steal his
car and called 911, but there was no answer. He reported this to Eric Olson. Olson
wants anyone else who experiences problems with 911 to let him know.
Someone mentioned seeing a man, fairly regularly, sitting outside the X-Mart,
drinking out of a paper bag, and asked if the police would respond to something like
that. Officer Taylor said we should call the police to report it, and they can write up
a citation. City officers have arrested such people, but they always come back.
Something like that wouldn’t be their highest priority if there were other things going
on that needed their attention.
Officer Taylor reported that in the month of May there were 28 thefts, including 3
stolen vehicles, 4 assaults, 7 robberies of commercial establishments, and 3
robberies of residences.
It would be appropriate for Officer Taylor to be on the Neighborhood Watch
listserv. She wants to establish a Civic Advisory Council and is hoping to get 10
members on it.
Our Neighborhood Watch members no longer hold separate meetings – they
keep in touch by the listserv. Someone asked Officer Taylor what the best way to keep crime down is – she
said “communication.”
If you call 911 to report something going on in the neighborhood, you can request to remain anonymous. But it would be better if you left a phone number, even if you requested that the Police do not come to your house. That way, if an officer arrives and can’t locate the alleged behavior, he or she can contact the caller and find out if the caller has any newer information that might help the officer locate and identify the suspect.
On the City website, click on “Rental Property listings” to see if there’s a current rental permit for a particular property. A rental property’s owner’s telephone number will also be there.
If we have a noise complaint in the middle of the night, or another code issue, call 301-275-2466. When the weather’s nice and the University is in session, the code officer works Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
People can call Officer Taylor directly. Beer pong is not illegal if it’s done in your yard and doesn’t violate noise ordinances.
3. Agenda Item 3. Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer’s report was delivered to the Secretary in writing rather than presented at the meeting. The balance in March was $349.61. Expenses include $124.76 paid to Minuteman Press in March, and $147.45 to Minuteman Press in April. Dues and advertisements brought in $732.52. (Minuteman Press invoices are now paid by debit card, which eliminates the $13 monthly fee.) The balance as of May 20, 2009, is $809.92.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm.
Meeting Attendees:
Stacey Baca Harry Pitt Gordon Breighrew Terrance Rucker Robert Catlin Bob Ryan Margaret Himmelfarb Forrest Tyler Doug Hunter Sandra Tyler Chris Larsen Kevin Young Jack Perry
Liesl Koch, Recording Secretary, BDCA
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