PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — Some small business owners in Prince George’s County say the increase in crime needs to be addressed. This week the Prince George's Couny Council vicechair for District Six met with owners one-on-one.
Seven businesses in the Largo-Capitol Heights area participated. Councilwoman Wala Blegay told WUSA9. At the top of the list was crime.
Blegay visited Connoisseur Paris in the Campus Way shopping center. Owner, Julius Ade said he’s been at that location for two years and has had two instances of crime. First, an iPad was stolen and when an employee tried to confront the person they pulled out a knife.
Another time, he said his business was burglarized in the middle of the night. In both instances, he said he couldn’t get an officer to come out. He says it’s frustrating and the Blegay said she believes it’s directly related to the officer shortage the county is facing.
"[I] called 911 just to get somebody called and stayed on the phone somebody picked up and said, 'OK, they’re connecting to the police,' but I stayed on the phone for a very long time and it was frustrating, and I just had to let go," Ade.
WUSA9 reached out to Prince George’s county police about Ade’s claims. A spokesperson said they have had one call for service there and that was for the burglary and says an officer did come out. Other than that, it’s been relatively quiet in that area regarding crime.
Councilwoman Blegay says with the huge projects coming to Prince George’s County like the Blue Line Corridor, now is the time to prepare, and that means addressing the officer shortage.
"We do need to make sure safety is in place because with more people that means possibly more crime and with more traffic we need to hire more people," said Blegay.
Earlier in the year, WUSA9 spoke with James McCreary, Deputy Chief for the Bureau of Patrol, who said a fully staffed police department would have 1,800 officers.
McCreary told us they didn’t meet that quota but wouldn’t say by how much. Blegay said that number is around 400, but so far police haven’t given exact details. According to the county’s website it says the department has more than 1,400 officers and 300 civilians providing law enforcement services to nearly 900,000 residents and business owners, but the site page doesn’t say when it was last updated.