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Residents press council over police response, dog attacks and code enforcement; officials promise follow-up
Summary
At the June 22 meeting, residents described delayed police response to an alleged dog attack and complained about towing/code-enforcement fines and school boundary/discipline issues; police and code staff said incident reports and citations will be prepared and staff will follow up with affected residents.
Multiple residents addressed the Glenarden City Council during the public-comment period on June 22, raising concerns about police response times, repeated dog attacks, code-enforcement fines and towing practices.
Dion Jones told the council that his neighbor’s dogs had attacked his friend—who has a disability—multiple times and that police did not respond to repeated 911 calls the evening of May 29. "After 47 minutes to 52 minutes when a sergeant from Prince George's County called me back...they did not respond to the call," Jones said. The acting police chief explained that, at the time, staffing was limited: one on-duty officer was at a hospital with an arrestee and the scheduled 8 p.m. officer had not yet arrived, leaving no officers available to dispatch; the dispatcher advised that animal-control response would take time. The chief said he visited the residence the following day and left a card and that an incident report will be prepared on request.
Other residents complained about code enforcement actions—ticketing and towing—after posting temporary registration stickers, disagreements over trailer fines and enforcement of commercial vehicle parking rules. Staff urged residents to meet with code enforcement (Mr. Green) for case review; Mr. Green said citations had been issued in some dog/violation matters and that animal control had been engaged. Council members asked staff to provide written explanations for enforcement patterns and to ensure residents receive timely responses.
Several speakers also raised school-related concerns involving Judge Savannah Woods and boundary issues, and asked the council to escalate problems to the county where appropriate.
What happens next: The police chief said he will prepare an incident report tied to the May 29 call, code enforcement will review citation timelines and Mr. Green will follow up with affected residents; council asked that staff deliver a written response to the council about enforcement procedures and outstanding open cases.
