Prince George's County Placing More Officers in 5 Focus Areas

Prince George's County Placing More Officers in 5 Focus Areas: MyFoxDC.com

WASHINGTON - Prince George's County Police are planning for what is usually the busiest time of the year, the summer.
"The state’s attorney’s office has agreed to provide enhanced prosecutorial attention to anybody that we arrest inside these focus areas, so we’re serious about this," said Col. Kevin Davis of Prince George's County Police.
The police summer initiative focuses on five hot spots in the county: Langley Park, Suitland, Hillcrest Heights, Glassmanor and Riverdale.
"The criteria we used were homicides, non-fatal shootings, carjackings and citizen robberies," said Col. Davis.
We talked to people in Riverdale who say crime is clearly an issue here.
"You would have to have your head under the blankets to not realize there are a lot of drugs in the area," said Riverdale resident Amy Lohr.
"I think it would be absolutely wonderful. I think we need to see a lot more police presence out here," says David Lohr.
David said he saw police working a shooting across the street from his apartment complex and he is always calling about gang activity and other crimes.
"We can't leave the house at night. There is only so much we can do. We call them and they’re always busy. There’s excuses. We can’t come. We have other calls. Extra police presence would be ideal," David said.
"I'm not being pessimistic but I think that when something stops working for a criminal, they find a different way of doing it and another route," said Amy.
The objective is to get ahead a crime before it is a big problem.
"We know if we can do well in these five focus areas during the summer of 2011, we can drastically cut violent crime in Prince George's County," said Col. Davis.

By Wisdom Martin
myfoxdc.com