Residents who go to the polls today to vote in the College Park elections will not only be choosing their favored candidates but also voting on the direction of an issue that has been fiercely debated on and off in the city for decades.
A nonbinding question on today’s ballot asks residents if they would be willing to pay $40 per month per household to increase police presence in the city. Increasing presence could be accomplished by a variety of options, including the heavily debated creation of the city’s own police force, but the advantages and disadvantages of such a force are unclear to most.
College Park is currently monitored by University Police and Prince George’s County Police, which share jurisdiction in some parts of the city. The city pays off-duty contract police from the county to patrol the city more, mostly at night.
Some of the problems leaders and residents have noted is that contract police officers’ response time is too slow, some smaller crimes fall by the wayside, and there is confusion between university and county police when the jurisdiction of a crime is in question.
An option to correct those problems that has continually come up is a city police force. And with 15 on-campus and 15 off-campus robberies this year, increasing crime and the 2002 stabbing death of student Brandon Malstrom after an off-campus party, residents’ interest in acquiring a city force has peaked in recent years.
The meaning of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote
If the city votes yes to the referendum, there is about a 60 percent chance the council would decide to create a city force, said District 1 Councilman Dave Milligan, who is undecided on the addition of a city police force. The council would likely first explore other options with less of a potential tax burden, and then move on to the police force issue.
If the referendum is voted down, the council still plans to explore ways to increase policing but will avoid the more expensive options.
If the force is created, College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman, who supports the referendum, said it would cover the entire city.
“Everybody wants to make sure that this is not a policing effort just for downtown,” Brayman said.
Some neighborhoods with thinner coverage, such as those that are not near the College Park Metro Station, a park or major street, might especially benefit, said District 1 Councilman John Krouse, who does not have an official position regarding the creation of the force.
If created, the force would likely have about 30 officers, which would mean at “the best of times,” there would be about three officers on duty, Milligan said. They may spend more time in the business area during the day, and downtown during the evening.
But even if three officers at a time is all the force amounts to, Krouse said it is worth the added presence. “On a day-in and day-out basis, it’s a larger presence than we typically have,” Krouse said.
Others, like District 1 Candidate William Flanigen, who is opposed to creating a city force, have said that the force would be too small to deal with major crimes such as a standoff or homicide and the residents would end up relying on the Prince George’s County Police anyway.
Impact on students
Residents would likely bear the brunt of the tax increase associated with creating a police force, but students could have to pay indirectly if landlords have to raise rent to cover the $40 per month cost, Milligan said.
SGA President Andrew Rose said it’s not likely the council would let costs for student housing become unreasonable.
Although most of the students Rose has spoken with support creating the force, he is not sure it is the best option. “It’s not at all clear whether that’s the right thing to do,” he said. “[It’s] the flashiest idea.”
District 2 Councilman Jack Perry, who is opposed to the force and was the only councilman to vote against putting the referendum on the ballot, said some students may not be pleased if there are more police to monitor rowdy behavior and speeding. Rose said he does not think the new force’s priorities will be to bust students, but to fight more serious crime.
Support and opposition
Support for creating the force comes from people across all groups who want to see more of a police presence in College Park, Krouse said. The majority of opposition lies in the added costs that getting a force would entail, Milligan said.
“There’s no inexpensive way to put police on the street,” Milligan said.
But others doubt the cost will be a big issue for most residents.
“It’s not really big bucks,” Krouse said. “It’s about a dollar a day.”
County police difficulties
Most council members agree the city needs better police coverage and that the contract police program with off-duty county police is not working.
District 3 Councilman Eric Olson, who supports adding a city police force, said the contract police only give patchwork coverage at only certain times of the day. “It’s openly not the answer to our policing needs,” he said. “It’s not a substitute for a real city police force.”
Flanigen said maintaining an adequate police force is the county’s responsibility and that residents should not have to pay extra money for getting an additional force when the county is not protecting the citizens it should be.
“We’re not getting our money’s worth out of the county for our police department.” Flanigen said. “I want College Park residents to stand up as one and tell the county were getting shortchanged.”
Perry agrees that the contract police are ineffective.
“I don’t think it’s right to pay a police officer overtime to do what he should be doing on regular time,” Perry said. “What am I getting out of this officer when he’s coming back to work? Time off is time to unwind. Those officers may not be as effective.”
But despite attempts to improve the contract police program, it is very difficult to do so.
“We’re paying for protection now. Some people have felt we should get more out of them,” Krouse said. “It’s very difficult for the little city to make the big entity do something. Brayman and others have really tried.”
Others say the county is too short staffed to put police officers on College Park streets and the city should not rely on them.
“The upside [of getting a police force] is you can put people where you need them,” Milligan said. You’ve got the manpower to deal with these … issues. The county doesn’t really have the manpower to do it at a great extent.”
The city’s own police force would alleviate some of the county’s policing burden, proponents say.
“It seems now Prince George’s County is responding to so many things that it is easy for the small ones to not get much follow-up investigation,” Krouse said.
The council has already increased the amount of money it gives to the contract officer program twice, Milligan said. “It doesn’t do more good right now to put more money in the program,” he said.
Other options
Another option besides creating a force is bringing in state troopers to patrol the area, but “the state police aren’t as hot on that right now,” Milligan said.
The troopers would be hired and trained by state police, Milligan said. “State troopers – it’s a powerful brand name, if you will, in law enforcement,” he said. “Just that alone made that an attractive option.”
Milligan also said those two programs, contracting police and bringing in state troopers to cover the area, may be the easiest to consider since they are programs “already in place and that municipalities can already buy into.”
“Beyond that, it’s going to take some real creative thinking,” Milligan said. “After the first two [options] it becomes more difficult because there’s not these established options.”
If history is any indication, the alternatives to creating a city police force may be just as important for the council. The last time the police force issue appeared on the ballot, it was a binding question in 1995 that was voted down.
University City Council Liaison Emily Guskin also said the city might consider installing more security cameras and hiring someone to watch them, although there would have to be a way of ensuring people’s privacy.
The issue usually comes up once a decade, Olson said. However, he said this time it seems the current police have been stretched thinner than before and more people are concerned with crime. Brayman agreed.
“They sense that times have changed and most people I have spoken to are either on the fence or have already decided to vote yes,” Brayman said.
Potential complications
But one potential complication to adding a city force is that jurisdiction would be muddled between the existing forces. Krouse said there is already overlapping between the Metro Transit Police, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the university force, state police and county police.
Both Olson and Milligan said adding a city police force might clear up any confusion as crime in the city could be considered the city force’s jurisdiction. “It will be clear whose responsibility it is,” Milligan said.
University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said the university’s and county’s jurisdictions are clearly spelled out in legal documents, and there is no confusion among them.
In the past, the city and the university have talked about potentially expanding University Police, although Atwell doesn’t know how likely it will be that it happen in the future. In the past, the city and university could not come to an agreement over how much the expansion would cost or how it would work.
If the city does get its own force, it will be extremely important that the two work together, she said. Integrating them may be difficult however, Krouse said.
“It would not be seamless,” he said. “They may handle things differently, they may not be as student friendly.”
Contact reporter Mariana Minaya at minayadbk@gmail.com.
