Annapolis Capital Punishment

Proving once again that we are a one horse town and that she is not a horse of a different color, and freshly back from Europe and ready to finally fight crime, Mayor Moyer has proposed that we get our officers more Segway motorized contraptions and perhaps horses. Okay, well horses do have their place in urban policing, especially where you have large parks and stables, which would, well exclude Annapolis. And Segways may have their uses too, if you think going 12-15 miles an hour down a sidewalk or into a store is useful. Well, maybe not. Heck, we already have a bike unit with bikes and trained officers and each Segway would cost over $5,000 so what’s wrong with bikes. What is it I am missing? Bikes are more maneuverable and faster so…why Segways? They should be banned from our sidewalks as a danger to walkers.
The Mayor did propose a change in managing the police shifts, and this may be a good idea. Or, it may just be window dressing. Surely we can and need to do better. So, how do we fight crime?
1. Replace our police chief with an outsider with new ideas and a fresh perspective. It’s time. Chief Johnson has been a dedicated and long serving chief, but as with many cities, there is a time to move on. He has been on extended sick leave and rumors have circulated about his retirement for a long time.
2. Face the fact of public housing. We have too much of it and in one way, shape or form, these properties and their residents or visitors are disproportionately involved in our most violent and serious crimes. Don’t obfuscate on this one. Deal with this issue. Treat the properties and the residents as if they are in the City and are residents--because they are! Let’s see better cooperation with public housing officials and residents and more cops walking the beat in HACA properties. (see below at end of this post)
3. Face the new reality of the recent influx of new immigrants. For the most part, our Hispanic neighbors are pursuing the American Dream and playing by the rules as their children attend schools and they work, build businesses and buy homes. However, their presence has brought a new set of challenges and some of them are both victims and perpetrators of crime. We have reached out to them and our police department has worked on this, but more needs to be done as their numbers and presence increases.
4. Increased attention to and crackdown on moving and non-moving traffic violations. Unless you are in public housing, the biggest and regular threat to your safety is from vehicles. These routine violations and routine stops for things ranging from failure to yield to having a broken light often lead to much more than routine discovery of crime. CP contends that people who flagrantly violate seemingly minor parking regulations are exhibiting an anti-social behavior and disrespect for the law. Let’s look at training our PEO’s (parking enforcement officers) to patrol a larger areas of the city and enforce these parking violations (left to curb, handicapped only, parking in a red zone, on a sidewalk etc.).
5. A real citizens advisory group with some real power to keep watch over our police department and to advise it, keep it abreast of local concerns, extol it when it does well and let it know when it did not. Is there a downside to this? CP doubts it.
6. AND FINALLY---get us the officers we need and give them what they need. Stop messing around on this one. We need more officers. We need them recruited and trained and hired. We need them to stay here and be satisfied with their jobs. Without giving in to their union, we need to negotiate fairly and respectfully and find a way to move ahead. No two ways about this one.
SO, CP asks Annapolitans and Mayor Moyer---”WHAT ARE WE MISSING?”
Well, as CP was putting this story to bed, a news release comes in from the Mayor’s Office with what appears to be some serious and much needed action with the Housing Authority (HACA). The Mayor is proposing a new relationship with HACA and is prepared to allocate staff and financial resources to improve security and law enforcement in public housing properties. Unfortunately, the Mayor takes a negative tone in the news release, resorting to her usual unproductive and whiney finger pointing and blame game. For example, the release reads, “Since 2004 Annapolis has provided the Housing Authority with $200,000 to employ police officers to work as off duty security," said Mayor Moyer. " This money was to be matched with HACA funds for a $400,000public safety program. HACA has not utilized all of the City’s contribution. It has also been unsuccessful in recruiting from other law enforcement agencies. Accountability for public safety expenditures on a $400,000 program is sketchy at best.”
Mayor Moyer, CP supports you in this effort to deal with a long festering situation that you and others seem to have either ignored or sidestepped. Please, don’t let your personal issues with HACA get in the way. And please, don’t do this because Dave Cordle will point the public safety finger at you. Do it because we need to do it.