In a city council worksession on December 4 at the Franklin Park Leasing Center, Greenbelt Police Chief Richard Bowers noted that there has been a lower crime rate in the complex and his department believes that the continuing close collaboration between the police and Franklin Park is a key factor.
Overall, the totals are the classes of crime reported to the FBI for 2019 is down 13 percent. Eight crimes are reported to the FBI: murder and non-negligent homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft and arson. Comprehensive 2019 city annual statistics will be released early in 2020 and then summarized in this newspaper.
This year, Franklin Park had no homicides and a 50 percent decrease in robberies after a spike in this class of crime the year before. (The homicide on Ivy Lane is included in the Franklin Park sector for reporting purposes but was unrelated to the complex.)
It was noted that burglaries have traditionally been a large factor in the crime statistics but they are down 40 percent in the last year. Credit goes to the community’s management staff who are doing a great job of screening applicants, and to the alertness of the maintenance staff to untoward activity.
Solution Rates
In response to a question, police representatives stated that, on average, crime solution rates are about 24 to 26 percent, which is about 5 percent better than the county overall. Crimes against persons, such as murder, rape and robbery, though, have a 70 percent solution rate. He noted that such crimes have an inherent victim involved from whom information is often available, but vehicle crimes, which are more numerous, are more difficult and time-consuming to solve because they are generally committed when nobody is around to see.
It was noted that, unfortunately, vehicle crimes are a serious concern in the city and are running much the same as in previous years and that the resources that must be used to solve them are significant.
It was also noted that there has been a significant increase in calls for service related to mental health and suicide crises. To respond to this, the department is upgrading the training its officers receive on how to respond most effectively to these situations; the first such training takes place this month.
No Gang Activity
When questions came up about possible gang activity, Franklin Park’s Denise Knight responded that there has been no evidence of gang activity in the complex, but there had been some concern that some gang members might live there. She described how Franklin Park had engaged in a collaborative activity with city police and the Prince George’s County gang unit earlier this year, which was successful in identifying and removing individuals of concern who were not on the lease of the apartment in which they resided. Knight noted that the MS-13 tip line information has been shared by the Greenbelt police online and is available to management.
Community Policing
Officer Carlos Torres has been the Franklin Park community police officer for seven years. He said that he finds the management helpful and noted that they are very concerned about safety in the complex. Torres responded to questions from bike-oriented Councilmember Emmett Jordan on bike patrols. He said that Franklin Park is patrolled on bikes when the weather is good enough and that the younger children, in particular, were impressed by their bike gear. In fact, on the first day of school, bike officers in full bike regalia were at the elementary school to greet the students as they returned from summer vacation. He also noted that walking patrols and a golf cart are used to bring police officers into closer contact with residents and enable them to reach into the inner courtyard areas away from automotive access.
A number of questions from residents centered on safety in the complex, with some specific requests to attend to dark patches, trees blocking lights and other concerns relating to overall security; these were duly noted by management for action. Head of Maintenance Mark Pauley confirmed that the number of security cameras has been increased, but noted that they are mostly focused on high traffic areas such as laundry buildings. He confirmed that they are not as prevalent in the areas close to residential buildings.
Torres now has direct access on his computer to the camera feeds, which he noted was very helpful. He can be out on patrol and immediately view each camera in real time. Maintenance staff on duty in the evenings and mornings now check on a regular basis that security lights are on at night.