Police Chief Richard Bowers addressed an audience of about 30 residents and several police colleagues during the Community Crime Forum on July 28 at the Community Center. He presented statistics about crime, suggestions for crime prevention and gave a rundown on the effects of new police regulations, difficulties in recruiting new officers and the effects of numerous recent retirements from the department.
Auto-Related Crime
Bowers noted areas of concern in which local incidents mirror national trends – carjackings and other auto-related crimes, such as thefts of vehicle components (particularly wheels, catalytic converters and airbags) and thefts of valuables left in vehicles. Countywide, carjackings are expected to reach 500 this year, up from 383 in 2021 and 90 in 2019.
Prevention
Bowers suggested some carjackings may be preventable with vigilance and awareness. “Pay attention to who’s around you and the positioning of your car,” he said, warning people to leave themselves room to drive away from a situation. He gave the example of a recent carjacking where the would-be victim was an armed security guard who was waylaid in his vehicle. Despite having a gun, the guard’s reaction, correctly, was to drive away. Bowers also suggested keeping windows closed and doors locked at all times, encouraging deterrence by parking in well-lit places and possibly requesting an escort across the parking lot. To protect catalytic converters, he suggested cages that bolt the converter to the vehicle structure or incising ownership information into it; he also recommended devices, like The Club, that lock the steering wheel and incidentally protect the airbags. For wheel theft he noted that locking lug-nuts don’t always work.
Mailbox Thefts
“The other big increase is theft from mailboxes,” Bowers said, explaining how thieves have stolen keys for U.S. mailboxes and used them to harvest checks; then washed, re-wrote and fraudulently deposited them. Prevention includes using mailboxes inside the post office, paying bills online and, if a check is the only recourse, using a black gel pen so the ink cannot be easily washed off (ballpoint is easily washed off by acetone). He encouraged keeping a careful watch on bank transactions and subscribing to online notifications. These theft trends, Bowers repeated, are not just here. “It’s in every area across the country,” he said. He also confirmed that the plastic wrapping of a local mailbox was not done by his department and noted that one mailbox key would open large numbers of boxes.
Changes in Policing
Policing has also been affected by changes in state law, Bowers said. State laws, which changed last year, have affected procedures, changed rules relating to incarceration and charging, and altered the treatment of juveniles. These changes also require additional scrutiny of police actions at the state level. Bowers said that Greenbelt and other local departments are “feeling our way through a set of laws.” The process is exacerbated by staffing shortages at all levels.
Staffing
Staffing at Greenbelt is relatively good but not ideal, Bowers related. There are currently 48 sworn members of the department out of 53 authorized. He noted 25 retirements in the last two years and 26 new hires. Despite successful hiring, attrition keeps restoring the balance.
“When I came on board, the department was skewed to the older side,” Bowers said. “Now it’s skewing to the much younger side.”
Applicants Down
Nationally, there are fewer people wanting to work in law enforcement. This is a problem as applicants are far fewer; in the past there would be 30 applicants for a position, and they are now averaging two. He is also concerned about the additional population expected from city growth, including recently-built apartments and proposed new apartments at Beltway Plaza that would increase the city’s population significantly.
Public Information
Public Information Officer Hannah Glasgow explained that breaking news on crime is carried on the department’s website and Facebook page, as well as Twitter. Statistics available to the public include the Weekly Crime Report (WCR).
The WCR is the basis for the police blotter which is now published in this newspaper each Thursday for the week ending the Sunday before instead of two weeks in arrears, as was the case historically. The WCR is received Tuesday early evening by the newspaper and is based on dispatcher reports of incidents. It does not contain follow-up from later actions. A representative of the News Review pointed out, when asked by Bowers, that the police website showed its last official press release was in January and that the WCR postings were not always up to date or complete.
Officers Chime In
Bowers introduced the officers present, who discussed community policing and responded briefly to audience questions about the justifiable use of force and the training police officers get in responding to highly-charged situations and in using firearms.
Gun Ownership
Concerns were raised about the effect of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s order to his administration to ease the state’s licensing rules for carrying a concealed handgun based on the recent Supreme Court ruling. Bowers agreed that this was likely to increase the number of guns. Bowers responded obliquely to the possibility raised by the audience that people too young to be charged with a crime (13 or under) are being organized to perform auto-related crime by those who are older.
It was clear that members of the audience did not all agree with each other’s points of view, and voices sometimes became insistent and interruptive. But perhaps the presence of several burly armed policemen kept things in check.