Annapolis MD Aug 19 2020 The Annapolis housing authority is converting two residential units into police substations and hiring an armed, private security firm in an attempt to fight crime and drug-related activity in its communities.

The added emphasis on policing and security follow a rash of gun violence in the city and Anne Arundel County as local governments across the country examine how to allocate police funding and resources in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Last month, Annapolis experienced its fifth homicide of the year, surpassing its homicide total from 2019.

The substations will be located in Robinwood and Harbour House communities, where police officers can write reports and interview residents who have reported a crime or are otherwise wary of going to the police station, said Cpl. David Stokes, Annapolis police spokesperson. The substations are not yet operational, nor is there a timeline for when they will open. Both housing units are unoccupied.

The officers who are assigned to the stations will serve as a symbol of safety and stability in communities while acting as a crime deterrent, Annapolis Police Chief Ed Jackson said.

“What I like about substations is it puts police in communities that need it most in real-time,” Jackson said.

“To be able to have an Annapolis logo in the community sends a message that we have a presence and we’re not just riding around being reactive to 911 calls.”

The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis also contracted with Blueline Security Services, a Landover-based private security company that began patrolling its communities this month, said Melissa Maddox-Evans, executive director.

The private security contract is worth as much as $43,000 for up to one year of services that includes foot and vehicle patrols by four armed guards, a 24-hour hotline and daily status reports to the authority and police department. The authority’s Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in June authorizing the company’s services for a 90-day trial period with an option to extend up to one year.

Members of the City Council have previously expressed concerns about a more concerted police presence in public housing properties.

City officials are still doing their due diligence to find alternate rental properties to host police operations in the area, but few such options exist, City Manager David Jarrell said. There are plans to bring the subject before the council by year’s end, he said.

In June, when the council approved $346,000 in funding to renovate a public housing unit in Eastport into a police substation, Alderman DaJuan Gay, D-Ward 6, who represents both Robinwood and Harbour House communities, likened the plan to “a police state.”

“Obviously, the concerns are people being over-policed,” Gay said Tuesday.

He said the project should have community input and include resources for tenants that go beyond just being a police station. Jackson agreed and said including resources job notices and training opportunities would further improve community trust.

The police substations and private security services are meant to protect residents using a community policing model “that ensures that the police are there to protect the citizens that actually live in the community,” Maddox-Evans said. Community policing is a philosophy championed by Jackson that focuses on building relationships between residents and police.

“People have to believe that the police are there to protect them,” she said.

Substations only work if they are properly managed, Jackson said. He promised to seek community feedback about how the stations were being run and reassign any officers who don’t meet standards.

“We want to make sure the officers are engaged in the community appropriately — [helping] the community solve problems and make them feel it’s a safe place and that the officers are approachable,” he said.

In the past, the police department has maintained substations in Eastport Terrace public housing community, as well as others at Allen Apartments on Center Street and on West Street in Parole, though none is currently in use, Stokes said.

Those previous stations were not staff 24-hours-a-day, he said, but he “wouldn’t rule out” around-the-clock police presence at the new locations.

The housing authority has made previous attempts to quell violence with a private security force.

In September 2016, the commissioners canceled a security program in Newtowne 20, drawing mixed reactions from the community and law enforcement officials.

A private security force could take the pressure off of Annapolis police, Gay said. But he stressed that guards should focus on keeping the peace and intervening during an emergency rather than arresting people.

“I’m pleased that they stepped up to the call of the community and invested in security,” he said. “That’s what the people were calling for.”

The Department of Housing and Urban Development gave approval last month to convert the dwellings to “Special Use: Anti-Drug/Crime” status in the agency’s inventory management system. The designation lasts for three years and expires in August 2023.

Of the five homicides in Annapolis this year, two occurred on housing authority property.

In May, 23-year-old Collin Michael Flannigan was shot in the head and later died. A month before, two men were shot in the Eastport Terrace complex next to Harbor House. On July 27, 14-year-old Camarin Wallace was shot and killed in the Annapolis Gardens community, a townhouse complex owned by HACA by managed by a private company.

Capital Gazette

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