Public safety was the topic of a Towson Town Hall meeting held Thursday afternoon on the University’s campus.
“Crime in Towson has been declining,” Baltimore County police chief Terrence Sheridan told community members and business leaders.
The meeting was organized by the Greater Towson Committee and was held in the Minnegan Room at the Johnny Unitas Stadium field house.
Crimes in Towson comprise 8.7 percent of all offenses in Baltimore – one of the lowest rates in the county’s nine precincts, Sheridan said. He says the area’s crime rates have been decreasing since 1990.
Of all the calls and dispatches in Towson, only 11.7 percent result in a criminal offense, Sheridan said, explaining that police officers are “service providers.”
Sheridan said challenges in the precinct include “growing student population and attendant problems” and “growing vehicle and pedestrian traffic.”
“A lot of people don’t seem to recognize the difference between the Beltway and the Towson Circle,” Mark Counselman, a downtown employee, said.
Other attendees expressed concerns about drivers not yielding to pedestrians along the circle, and the effect this can have on business.
Sheridan said the police department is aware of traffic and speeding issues in Towson, and is actively seeking solutions. He noted that car accidents kill 70 people each year in the county.
Towson University police chief Bernie Gerst also spoke at the meeting. He told attendees that the TUPD cooperates with the Towson precinct.
“A lot of principles of community policing also apply here,” Gerst said.
Karen Johnson, Towson’s new precinct commander, was sworn in only hours before the meeting. She said her officers are working with TU on a “couple major projects” relating to off-campus students and underage alcohol use.
“We have some excellent initiatives that we’re working together with the University [on] to keep everyone happy and keep everything under control,” she said.
After the meeting, she and Gerst described them in more detail. The University and community are working together to resolve resident complaints about off-campus students.
Campus and community police officers have also cracked down on underage drinking recently, visiting local bars to speak to owners about checking IDs.
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