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Issue date: 11/20/08
News & Features

Charles Village implements multi-layer security plans

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According to security reports and accounts from numerous students, these incidents have been happening more and more frequently.

"I know people who have been mugged on St. Paul below 31st which is where the Hop Cop patrol stops. I have a friend who lives in a house on the same block I was living in, and he got robbed on a Friday night as well. It's a growing problem," Steinert-Threlkeld said.

The Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD) has recently added community patrol officers with the Hopkins foot patrol and ABS bike officers along the North Charles Street corridors to help augment the off-duty uniform Baltimore Police Officers who patrol on Charles and St. Paul Streets.

"The CVCBD understands the importance and need for higher security around the neighborhood. We feel it is necessary to allocate a large amount of our funds to safety and security to not just better protect the residents of Charles Village but Hopkins undergraduates as well," Jeff Millard, a member of the CVCBD board of directors, said.

The CVCBD uses its $205,000 safety budget on many security projects such as the Neighborhood walkers, CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams), block leaders and the Porch Light Project. A relatively new project currently being enhanced by the CVCBD is their Safety Team, a group of Community Safety Officers who patrol the District on foot, bicycle and in motor vehicles during daytime and early evening hours.

According to Millard, these men and women are the "eyes and ears" of the neighborhood, providing a friendly, organized and uniformed presence on the street. The District Community Safety Officers do not have arrest authority, and do not carry weapons or handcuffs unlike the Baltimore City Police Department.

But the Safety Officers do create an atmosphere to prevent incidents, provide information about the District and about community safety and educate area businesses and neighbors on city ordinances, such as on trash days and dumping.
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Exile

posted 11/24/08 @ 10:11 AM EST

This is possible the whiniest article I have read in a long time. Are there any statistics to match up to the whining to corroborate increases in crime? Or is this just people who never realized that one has to deadbolt their doors and lock their windows when one lives in a city. (Continued…)

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