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A report on city police services released this month recommended the city contract with the Prince George's County Police for six patrol officers, continue hiring off-duty county officers to help with short-term needs and fund a program manager position.

According to Matrix Consulting Group, Inc. - the group commissioned to produce the report by the College Park City Council - the "current number of regular county officers deployed in College Park is insufficient for the city's needs."

If the recommendations are accepted by the city, the report estimates costs during the initial year of operation at $1.16 million: $850,000 for the six contract officers; $210,000 to continue the program of hiring off-duty officers that started in 2004; and another $100,000 to fund the manager position.

Although adopting the report's findings would cost the city more than what it currently pays for police services, enacting the recommendations would be significantly cheaper than creating a municipal police force similar to those in Hyattsville and Bowie - an option considered by the city and the report.

"Neighboring cities of comparable size that have municipal police departments spend an average of $330 per capita, 244 percent more than College Park," according to the report.

Director of Public Services Bob Ryan, who has overseen the progression of the report, said the city council first hired MCGI to review police policies after a 2005 ballot referendum revealed city residents were willing to pay more taxes if the police presence in their jurisdiction increased. Ryan added, however, that city residents' opinions on the subject vary greatly.

"There are opinions that span the whole spectrum of what kind of policing there should be in College Park," Ryan said.

Ryan also said an August 21 public meeting between council members, city officials, student representatives, county police and Matrix representatives will be a good starting point for deliberation.

"We just received the final draft of the report," Ryan said. "We're going to be studying it and seeing what the city can afford, and what the council wants to pursue."

Under current procedures, two county beat officers assigned to the area patrol around the clock, and are often joined by two off-duty county officers contracted by the city on a voluntary basis.

According to the report, the city increased its budget for contracting the off-duty officers significantly in fiscal year 2007, raising it to $500,000. However, because of what the report calls "difficulties in getting county officers to sign up for [the] program," only an estimated $369,000 was spent. The city has approached the Prince George's County Sheriff's office and the Maryland State Police asking that their officers be allowed to work for the city, though none have been contracted yet. University Police, which share jurisdictional areas with county police, have declined city requests to hire off-duty officers.

"Our officers are only assigned overtime for events that are on-campus exclusively," University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said. "We do contracts with the athletic department, traffic control and resident control, but these are all campus entities. That's traditional practice."

The report recommended city officials discuss ways the University Police Department could "better support the City in its efforts to maintain safe living conditions for students in off-campus housing."

Dillon said the current relationship between University Police and county police is good, but there is always room for improvement.

"We feel that more officers and more supervision is always beneficial," he said.

The report also found that although there are two county officers assigned to the area including College Park - referred to as Beat 6 and 7 - those officers are "routinely dispatched to other areas of District 1 and that limited beat integrity exists."

The report said Beat 6 and 7 cars provided "58 percent of their services in other beats in Sector B of District 1."

Prince George's County Police Maj. Kevin Davis, commander of district 1, said the report unfairly portrays his police units because it gives the impression that county police purposefully abandons College Park.

"We respond with the appropriate number of officers to the area," Davis said. "That doesn't mean we don't have good beat integrity."

Davis said he plans to work with the city and provide his own recommendations.

Student Government Association President Andrew Friedson, who was part of a student focus group that worked with MCGI, said he looks forward to voicing student concerns about current safety.

"Students felt there was good [police] presence on Route 1 and the immediate down town area, but the presence was less in some of the neighborhoods," Friedson said. "Walking in the backstreets seemed to be a concern."

Contact reporter Cassie Bottge at cbottge@gmail.com.

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