FORT WASHINGTON — After 15 years, a Prince George’s County community has a new police station but the county lacks the money to staff it.
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker says there is no money to finish and hire extra police officers needed to man the new station. It was scheduled to open this September but Baker says the opening could be delayed a year because the County Council cut the funding for the station out of the budget.
Friday morning County Council members, other elected officials and local residents gathered across the street from the new District Seven Police Station in Fort Washington to pressure Baker to find the remaining $8 million needed to open the station.
Even though there are still bad feelings over the county’s bruising budget battle between the council and the county executive, the group asked Baker to put that behind him and focus on the residents and their safety.
“Nothing trumps the safety of the people. That’s what we’re saying this morning,” says County Councilman Obie Patterson, D-District 8, who orchestrated the gathering. He’s also the chair of the council’s Public Safety and Fiscal Management Committee.
Patterson stressed the need for the new police station by citing crime statistics for the county and talking about how the response time for 911 calls are headed in the wrong direction.
But in a statement, Baker blamed the council for cutting $8.9 million from the police department’s budget. He also said that crime has dropped by double digits in the county.
Council Chair Mel Franklin, D-District 9, says $25 million is available now from the 2 percent each agency was asked to set aside for an emergency. He says that money could be tapped to open the District Seven station.
Franklin says the impasse can be resolved easily if the Baker administration would be willing to talk.
Baker had been criticized for his lack of transparency in not talking to council members or other elected leaders about his decision to delay the opening. However Baker says he sent a letter to the council spelling out the result of the police funding cuts during the budgeting process but that no council member responded or sought more information about the likely delay.
“If we can’t afford to open a police station that the residents of our county need, then we most certainly can’t afford a brand new headquarters for county government,” Franklin says.
“We expect (Baker) to do the right thing and put some of your spending and projects on hold. Open this station,” says Maryland state Sen. Anthony Muse, D-26th.
