Police-Community Relations Council Roundup

Police officers from Anne Arundel County’s Western District on Wednesday updated residents on a variety of topics ranging from traffic, domestic violence and robberies in the community.

The Police-Community Relations Council for Western District held its monthly meeting, which included an appearance by Cpl. Tom Middleton, the new traffic coordinator for the area.

Middleton said that with the weather heating up, there has been an increased awareness of motorists violating the law, with speeding chief among the problems.

“I’m getting it uniformly from every community in Western District,” he said.

About 30 residents attended Tuesday’s meeting to convey their concerns, which included:

 -Cars driving too fast into residential portions of Dairy Farm Road.

-Motorists failing to properly merge to the left heading east into the traffic circle on Route 175 and Sappington Station Road.

-Reports of drag racing in Harmans, along Ridge Chapel Road and Gesna Drive.

-Lack of awareness of pedestrians crossing the traffic circle on Piney Orchard Parkway.

-Speeding on Oakton Road in Odenton, which is used as a cut-through between Odenton Road and Annapolis Road.

Community members also heard from Det. Stacey Overbay, who was recently appointed as the district’s Domestic Violence Officer. Overbay said there were 49 cases of domestic violence in May, and 20 cases of family violence, or cases involving family members who aren’t spouses. She said 40 percent of the cases in May involved men being victimized.

The community-relations council presented the department with a $900 gift card to Costco. The food will be used to buy food for morale-building cookouts held by officers after their shifts. In the past, officers were asked to chip in $5 for food, and commanding officers often footed larger portions the bill. The council in past years purchased a grill for officers to use during the cookouts, and this year also donated a large cooler.

“We’re facing another dreary year, and this is one of those morale boosters,” said Capt. Jerard Flemings, the commanding officer for Western District.

In other news, Flemings said a recent report of a robbery involving a taxi driver in Severn will likely go down as a false report. Police responded to a report on June 3 from the driver, who claimed that he was robbed at gunpoint near Pioneer Drive and Arwell Court in Severn. Flemings said that interviews with the driver and his employer revealed that a robbery probably did not take place.