Work group backs option for municipalities to provide crossing guards under county contract

Recommendation 16 would permit municipal police departments to provide crossing-guard coverage on behalf of the Prince George's County Police Department through a subcontracting or MOU arrangement. Chair Wanika Fisher said the approach would allow municipalities that want to participate to take on local crossing-guard positions while leaving county coverage in unincorporated areas.

"So it's police department to police department on the contracting of a crossing guard," Fisher said, describing the intended model as county funds and authority delegated to municipal departments that choose to participate. Members urged consulting municipal chiefs about feasibility, cited recruitment challenges and noted the need to coordinate with unions and county human-resources processes. One staffer recalled earlier PGPD briefings that crossing guards require background checks and, in the past, OHRM processing created delays that the department has worked to resolve.

Why it matters: crossing-guard staffing has been a persistent county challenge; allowing municipal subcontracting is intended to free county resources to prioritize unincorporated schools while enabling municipalities to fill local positions. The recommendation is explicitly optional for municipalities and expects implementation work (MOUs, budgeting, and human-resources coordination) before rollout.