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Park Police brief Prince George's County committee on park safety, patrols and falling calls-for-service
Summary
Chief Jermaine Haywood told the county committee the Park Police saw calls for service fall from over 127,000 in 2022 to 84,471 through August 2024, outlined patrol deployments across commuter trails and described rules and outreach plans to reduce thefts and improve safety.
The Prince George's County Council Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee heard a briefing from Maryland-National Capital Park Police (Prince George's County Division) on park safety and enforcement across the county.
Chief Jermaine Haywood said the agency recorded "over a 127,000 calls for service" in 2022, roughly 109,000 in 2023 and "84,471" through August 2024, and stressed that Park Police rely on residents to report incidents so officers can respond. "Either crime is dropping... or we're not getting the calls from the citizens as we need to so we can be proactive," he said.
Haywood framed the Park Police mission as protecting park visitors and assets across roughly 28,000–29,000 acres that include community centers, trails, athletic fields and playgrounds. He described authorized staffing of 175 sworn positions and current staffed strength of about 140 sworn officers plus 35 civilians.
The briefing covered the agency's operational approach: targeted overtime patrols on commuter trails, visible foot and bike patrols, motorcycle and mounted units for specific corridors, upgraded camera systems and community education through signage and QR codes. "We have 4 officers that we're currently utilizing" for the Northwest Branch Hiker-Biker Trail overtime detail, Sergeant Sean McCracken said.
Committee members pressed Park Police on jurisdictional boundaries (Haywood: Park Police enforce on property owned by the Park and Planning Commission), funding (Haywood: the division is funded by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission) and whether incident statistics reflect arrests or reported incidents (Haywood: the numbers are incidents that generated a case number and may be under investigation)."These are incidents," he said.
The committee discussed next steps in coordination, data sharing, and public education; the hearing concluded with a motion to adjourn. The transcript ends before a final tally on that motion was recorded.
