MEMORANDUM
September 24, 2007
TO: City Council
FROM: Public Safety Committee
RE: Annual Report
It is hard to believe that it has been a year since we have been sworn in as members of the Public Safety Committee. We are grateful to you for the opportunity to assist the City in this manner. We have formed a very good working relationship with one another and, in the past year, have gleaned a great amount of information, held very substantive discussions, and compiled a list of recommendations for the Council to consider.
Over the past year, our greatest attention has been focused on the establishment and development of the Bowie Police Department. At every meeting we have received a complete report from either Chief Perez or Deputy Chief Nesky. Each month, we follow the report with many questions and suggestions. Every question we have asked has been fully answered and all of our feedback has been very well received.
We believe it is important to share with you and the residents of Bowie just how impressed we are with the professionalism and performance of the Bowie Police Department, both its leadership and its officers. To be able to create a police department from scratch and to do so ahead of schedule is just an amazing accomplishment. To maintain such a high degree of visibility as well as pursue several successful major felony investigations and arrests is phenomenal. We believe our enthusiasm for the Bowie Police is shared by the community at large as demonstrated by the tremendous turnout at National Night Out last month.
In addition to receiving reports regarding the Bowie Police Department, we have been briefed on a variety of topics by the Prince George’s County Office of Emergency Management, the Prince George’s County Public Schools School Security Office, the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, the Maryland State Highway Administration, and The Traffic Group, the nation’s largest consulting firm devoted exclusively to traffic studies. All of the presenters were very thorough and very knowledgeable. We found the information that they submitted to be quite valuable and pertinent.
As a result of the presentations made to us and our subsequent deliberations, we have agreed upon a number of recommendations to submit to the City Council:
1. The City should sponsor Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. This training, offered by the Prince George’s County Office of Emergency Management, instructs citizens on how to be “second responders” in the event of disaster or crisis. We understand that the City has adopted this recommendation and will be sponsoring such training.
2. The City should conduct a security review of City Hall and include security considerations in its planning for the new City Hall. We understand that this has been requested.
3. The City should recommend to the Maryland State Highway Administration that the closed ramp from eastbound U.S. 50 onto southbound State Route 197 be reopened for emergency vehicles only. This will allow easier access to the Bowie Health Center and the future EMS facility on Northview Drive. As such vehicles will be staying in the right lane for a right turn; they would not be traffic hazards.
4. The City should sponsor a voluntary workshop for representatives of private schools in Bowie regarding planning for emergencies. The Prince George’s County Public Schools have done an admirable job in such planning and the Director of Security is willing to share his experience with others.
5. The City should undertake a comprehensive traffic safety study by identifying major existing traffic safety hazards and options for corrective action, ensuring that the City benefits from the most recent technology in traffic safety engineering as well as national and international best practices, and providing residents with a transparent and predictable system for reporting traffic safety hazards and developing a response. A detailed recommendation is attached.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve the City as members of the Public Safety Committee. We stand ready to assist in the implementation of these recommendations and look forward to working with you for the remainder of our terms.