Police Address Greenbelt Students' Concerns About Violence

A team of police officers were the keynote speakers at Tuesday night's PTA meeting, titled “Meet the Police.” Acting principal Warren Tweedy said the police came in response to about middle school honor students who spoke out on violent crime in Greenbelt.

Tweedy said the article brought up a concern that was so serious “it actually got all the way up to [William R.] Hite,” the Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, who Tweedy said heard about the story and asked him, “What are you going to do?”

Pointing out that the students’ remarks to Patch were not about crime in the school itself but in the community, Tweedy thanked the Greenbelt Police Department and the four officers who came to the PTA meeting in response.

Before the questions began, Officer Tim White attempted to allay concerns. “Crime numbers are down dramatically” at , formerly Empirian Village, he told the small gathering of parents and teachers.

Historically, the area has had the highest amount of crime calls in Greenbelt, according to White, but since Fieldstone Properties took over, he said, “Short term, right now, it looks like what we’re doing and what they’re doing in cooperation with each other is starting to have an effect.”

“At my request, Franklin Park has evicted 42 units,” he said, “that have been problem people” causing crimes like robberies and burglaries.

Police have also stepped up a trespass policy, White said, explaining that since Franklin Park is private property, the management can tell anyone who comes on the property that is a problem or commits crimes that they don’t want them on the property. Police can arrest trespassers who come back despite being warned, “based just on them being there,” said White.

“You’ll hear about some stuff in the next couple of weeks that we’re doing to try to tackle some of the problems,” White said, hinting at initiatives underway at Franklin Park that he couldn’t elaborate on until they happened.

One item he could discuss was security cameras. “We’re looking at installing video cameras around the property in the high crime, high target areas where we have problems.” In addition, he told the audience that Franklin Park’s management had hired off-duty Greenbelt police officers to patrol during strategic times.

“It is great to have a management company now that is behind us, that is working with us, that is willing to put the money in,” White said.

White’s state of the union seemed to hit its mark as the audience asked several questions. Mubeena Malik, mother of 7th-grader Farhan Malik, asked the first one. She wanted to know why police traffic enforcement appeared to be increasing lately and followed up later wanting to know whether they liked their jobs.

Officer Scott Yankowy fielded the traffic question, saying there was nothing unusual happening but that the police had an initiative this month called Street Smart, which focuses on pedestrian safety.

Amy Hansen, president of the PTA, switched topics from the middle school to , asking whether the school and the bridge over the walkway were safe, as the middle school’s students would eventually wind up there.

When looking at the big picture created by comparing the county’s other high schools, “Roosevelt’s fine,” Officer John Rogers told her.

But when it came to the walkway, unfortunately, “A few people can make it bad for everybody,” he said, adding that she would be surprised at the number of non-Greenbelters who use the walkway to cut through to old Greenbelt.

For his part, Rogers assured her, “Every afternoon at dismissal, I’m on Roosevelt’s side of the footbridge when the kids come out.”

Another audience member brought the questioning to Greenbelt at large and asked whether police saw much gang activity. Officer White said that about a year ago some people had tried to start a gang, but police were able to make arrests and get evictions, which broke it up.

The timing was none too soon for Greenbelt because within a few months, White said, two of the guys were charged with homicide.

Bringing the discussion back to the winds of change at Franklin Park, White said that shortly after the police broke up the gang, the new management company took over and began evicting tenants for crime and non-payment issues.

"Since then we have not had any, what I would call, gang attempted gang people trying to you know bond together," White said.

But Franklin Park has several hundred vacancies now and is paying a price, according to White.

“They have sacrificed immediate profit and earning potential for the longer, greater good,” he said.

Compounding the costs are its work toward making major renovations inside and outside of the units and moving toward having a couple of centralized laundry rooms instead of the existing ones, which have been a big problem for crime, White said. He also reported that they were looking at controlled lock-and-key access to buildings.

“They actually have plans right now at the county to renovate the old Giant Learning Center, which is down on Springhill Lane at Springhill Drive,” White continued, spelling out Franklin Park management’s plans for having shops, a fitness center and daycare facility in an effort to establish a self-sustaining community. “Basically what they want to do is they want to make it just like the old Greenbelt, what Greenbelt was founded on — being one community,” he said.

Throughout the meeting, officers told the parents and teachers to contact them with concerns. “You guys can get a hold of me anytime,” White said.

“Give us a call let us know what’s going on, what you see,” Master Police Officer, Kelly Lawson told them, “so we can try to investigate too and figure out where our problem areas are and take care of it, so they’re not problem areas anymore.”

Outside in the hallways, Tweedy expressed his appreciation for the Greenbelt police’s appearance at the PTA meeting, “It’s building more of a school-community partnership. I think that is needed in any community.”