Police Service Area redistricting was the main topic at last night’s PSA 107 meeting. Around 15-20 residents joined Lt. Michael Thornton and Acting Commander Alisa Petty at Liberty Baptist Church. Here is a brief recap:
- Lt. Thornton announced that MPD Chief Cathy Lanier had named Inspector Alisa Petty Acting Commander of the First District. Acting Commander Petty, who replaces the recently retired Commander David Kamperin, will stay in that position until Chief Lanier selects a permanent commander.
- Acting Commander Petty discussed proposed changes to the Police Service Area boundaries in the First District. PSA 107 will be expanding, adding area north of East Capitol Street. View the new boundary map.
- With the expansion, PSA 107 will move from being the area with the second lowest number of crime calls to the area with the second highest number of crime calls. The goal of PSA redistricting is to try and equalize the number of crime calls across all PSAs. Both Acting Commander Petty and Lt. Thornton assured residents that PSA 107 would be given the resources it needs (officers, equipment, etc.) to handle the increased number of calls. They also said that PSA 107 officers would be able to cover the expanded geographic area without hurting response time.
- Acting Commander Petty said that Chief Lanier is still taking comments and suggestions on the proposed PSA boundary lines. The goal is to have the new boundaries take effect sometime this fall.
- Overall crime is down 23 percent year-to-date over last year. There has been a 30 percent reduction in violent crime and a 22 percent decrease in property crime.
- Burglaries are up 109 percent year-to-date over last year (11 by June 2010 versus 23 by June 2011). There was an uptick in burglaries earlier in the year that has recently leveled off. MPD has recently made some significant burglary arrests. Unlocked windows on the ground floor are the main points of entry. Lt. Thornton also mentioned that individuals are knocking on doors to see if residents are home before attempting to break-in.
- Robberies are also up 15 percent, though MPD has closed a number of these cases. Many involve individuals who know each other.
- Lt. Thornton said that calls reporting suspicious activity are up in PSA 107. He asks that residents keep the calls coming….don’t worry if it is a false alarm. Its better to have MPD check out a suspicious situation.
- MPD continues to make traffic arrests in the PSA. I thanked MPD for stepped up enforcement on 17th Street SE and at the corner of 18th St. SE, E St. SE and Potomac Ave. SE.
- Residents asked that MPD work with Protective Services to get better data on crime at Reservation 13. Acting Commander Petty said that she would reach out to Protective Services.
- The next PSA 107 meeting will be on Thursday, July 21, 7pm, at Liberty Baptist Church, 527 Kentucky Ave. SE.
Brian Flahaven 