The Capital City Safe Streets Initiative appears to be working, said Annapolis Police Chief Michael Pristoop who updated the governor Wednesday on new crime-fighting strategies that are giving the state’s capitol hope after two record-breaking years of homicides.
The police department, which was reeling from nine homicides in 2007, welcomed the support of Gov. Martin O’Malley and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, in developing the Safe Streets coalition in February to combine local, state and federal resources against crime.
Pristoop, who took over the department from Chief Joseph Johnson in April, has developed several crime-combating strategies with the help of coalition members, including Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer and Annapolis City Council members.
He credits the city’s 22 percent reduction in violent crimes this year to a number of those initiatives, which were unveiled at the Wednesday meeting in Annapolis.
The department hired a crime analyst to expand crime mapping technologies that produce statistics police use to determine where patrols are most needed.
Because some of those areas fall under the jurisdiction of the Housing Authority of Annapolis, city police are in the process of being authorized as housing authority agents with permission to patrol the properties.
Pristoop also is collaborating with the Departments of Parole and Probation and Juvenile Services, which have identified the most violent offenders in need of greater supervision and expedited warrants to get them off the streets.
During the conference, O’Malley also celebrated Main Street’s designation as one of the nation’s “10 Great Streets,” which the American Planning Association names annually.
“Main Street has been named one of the 10 Greatest Streets in America — in recognition of its character, composition, and sustainability — and how, in the broadest sense of community, it connects individuals with one another,” he said.
“… It’s a place that every Marylander can be proud of — and we are very, very proud it has earned this recognition.”
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