Bikes, COP, Violent Crime: Perry Hall Public Safety Update

PERRY HALL, MD — Local police and elected officials presented a picture of crime in Perry Hall during a public safety meeting Monday night convened by Councilman David Marks.

"We’ve had a number of criminal acts throughout the Perry Hall area," Marks said, explaining the motivation behind the gathering.

Captain Christopher Kelly, who leads the White Marsh precinct, presented an overview of crimes in the area that were still unsolved. Two robberies and two burglaries have not been cleared since early September, Kelly said.

In one robbery case, he said a man dressed as a woman robbed the Shell station of money and cigarettes on Ebenezer at Belair roads. In the other, a street robbery was reported on Panorama Drive at 10:21 p.m. on Nov. 7. "That victim was targeted," he said.

Most of the crimes occurring in the precinct were thefts from vehicles, according to Kelly. Thieves were pulling door handles and taking valuables from parked cars. It was a crime of opportunity, he said, and encouraged residents to avoid becoming victims by taking the simple step of locking their vehicle doors.

"Many are overnight," Kelly said of the thefts from vehicles, which prompted a different approach to policing during the midnight shift.

After looking at the makeup of the community and its topography, Kelly said: "We felt the best way to attack this problem...was to put [officers] on bikes."

Officers were also in plainclothes driving unmarked cars and checking out communities, according to Kelly. He encouraged people to call and report any suspicious activity.

Approximately two dozen community members attended the public safety meeting at the Perry Hall Library, where leaders encouraged citizens to play a part in helping to keep their communities safe.

"I believe having a strong neighborhood watch helps," Marks said. He convened the meeting in part to discuss proposals for ways the community could be proactive. To that end, he invited a member of the Towson Citizens on Patrol (COP) group to present how the program there works.

Pat France of the Towson COP said that Towson has 50 neighborhoods, with 25 communities active in the program. Residents act as the eyes and ears and communicate with police.

"One thing you do have to do is get trained by Baltimore County police. And the first thing they will tell you is don’t get involved," France said. "Just pull away if you’re in a car and dial 911 and tell them what you saw."

A community doesn't need to have 10 people to create a group, according to France. Start a COP as a single person and put out a sign, she said.

"Call when you see something suspicious," France said.

Marks added that people could get a sign and meet quarterly and call themselves a COP group. Those who are interested should contact the precinct.

In addition, Marks said he plans to propose legislation to encourage police officers to live in Baltimore County through tax incentives.

"Right now, many of our officers live in Pennsylvania, Carroll, Harford counties," Marks said.

Despite how it may seem, violent crime has been on a "downward trend," according to Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

"There’s one caveat," Shellenberger noted during Monday's meeting at the Perry Hall Library. "We had a bad first six months in 2017. The first six months of 2017 we did see an uptick in a number of areas of violent crime. Carjackings, robberies of convenience stores are up a bit."

This is the first in a series of articles on public safety in Perry Hall based on the Nov. 20 meeting.

Photos from Nov. 20 public safety meeting at Perry Hall Library by Elizabeth Janney.