County Executive Lays Out Strategic Plan To Deal With Crime, Gets Tough On Apartment Complexes (video included)

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, flanked by Police Chief Melvin High, told the apartment owners and management companies that they must comply with his non-negotiable demands or he will close them down. Johnson said he will meet with the owners within the next 30 days.

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UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson today made good on the warning he issued to apartment owners and managers in his January mid-term address by saying he would close them down if they do not meet certain, non-negotiable demands he makes as he meets with them over the next thirty days.

“Our demands are non-negotiable and if they are not met, we will close you down,” Johnson said. “You would not allow your families to live in an environment like this and you must not allow your tenants to live in one either.”

Since Johnson’s mid-term address, officials compiled a list of the most crime-ridden apartment complexes in the county based on 2004 crime statistics. A further review of these complexes revealed fire and building code violations, as well as the need for improved security measures.

Johnson identified 22 apartment complexes that accounted for more than 19,000 calls for police service in 2004.

“One out of every 20 calls for service came from these properties,” Johnson said. “This is simply unacceptable and we will hold the property owners accountable for maintaining safe, habitable places for their tenants to live.”

Johnson used a graphic to show the 10 most crime-ridden areas in the county based on 2004 data, otherwise known as “hot spots.” These areas, all one mile in radius, are also where the majority of homicides and robberies have occurred so far this year. Most of the 22 properties on the list are located in or near these areas.

“Everyone can easily understand that these apartment complexes, in their current states, are breeding grounds for criminal activity and that activity holds law abiding tenants hostage to that behavior,” Johnson said. “The activity simply spreads out into the surrounding communities.”

Johnson used the Glenarden Apartments as a prime example. Five of the 33 homicides this year have occurred within a one-mile radius of those apartments. There have also been 12 shootings in the vicinity of that apartment complex.

As Johnson plans to get tough on the apartment owners, many of whom do not live in Prince George’s County, officials are seeing the results of crime-fighting initiatives that Johnson and Police Chief Melvin High unveiled in January.

High spoke about the Violent Crime Task Force, a unit consisting of three groups of 10 officers, who patrol the hot spots on certain nights. In just two months, the task force has made 221 arrests, seized almost $220,000 in illegal drugs and 12 guns.

“I am very proud to report that on the nights our task force teams were patrolling the hot spots, there were no homicides in those areas,” Johnson said.

High also spoke about the Take Away Guns or TAG program that has been in operation for approximately two weeks. This program involves the use of high intensity traffic stops along the roadways that bridge Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia. To date, 22 arrests have been made and nine illegal guns have been seized.

Thanks to the Most Wanted Offender Program, with help from the community, the police have arrested 12 of the 30 most wanted offenders in the county. Progress is also being made on the homicides, with 12 of the 33 having been closed and the police are pursuing leads on the majority of remaining cases.

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