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Could More Police Presence Thwart Recent Crimes?

The Other College Park Police (collegeparkpd.com)

The recent unprecedented rise in crime incidents in the neighborhood has brought back the old debate of more police presence in the city. Some now question the effectiveness of the contract police that the city residents pay with their tax dollars.

“A spike in College Park burglaries over winter break has caused many landlords and residents to question why greater police presence wasn’t used to prevent the crimes…In the past, police presence had been scaled down during these months, but the city’s 2009 budget included $1 million for an increase of off-duty patrolmen to prevent burglaries in the area.”  says this Diamondback article.

There have also been talks of revisiting the issue of having city’s own police department. “Our new Mayor Andy Fellows, should take a public position on this matter (of city police).” Says one resident.

With the rise in recent crime incidents in our area, residents and police detectives are scratching their heads to find the causes of such crimes. Some think this is the time of the year, when criminals get more time to do their foul play during longer period after the dark. Other disagree – noting most crimes in our district happened during day time – between 9am to 3pm – when most of the residents go out to work.

Some seem to have a clue on the cause of such rise in crimes in the area. They blame this on the winter break time – when the students leave their city residences vacant. “Property crime in areas densely populated with students tends to increase during months when students are away from the campus.” – says Lisa Miller, president of the Prince George’s County Property Owners Association.