[RP TownTalk] help our police and code enforcement!

[Sarah Wayland]

Town-talkers,

One of the Big Advantages of living in a municipality with our very
own police force is that they can respond very quickly. We have a
fantastic police department, and they work hard to keep us all safe,
and to keep our town attractive. But they cannot be everywhere at
once.

That's where we can help them. We can serve as the eyes and the ears
of our town law enforcement officers. If you see things that look
suspicious to you, please notify the police or code enforcement. Code
enforcement is part of the police department, so you can let the
dispatcher decide how to handle your call. Our officers can evaluate a
situation and take the appropriate action. But if they don't know
something is going on, they can't do anything unless they happen to
see it while driving around town.

What do I mean by suspicious? I mean *anything* that seems out of the
norm. The police are trained to evaluate these things, and can respond
appropriately. I used to think it was really weird when I would see
someone parked on a street sitting in their car, but I didn't think it
was any of my business. A policeman told me that a lot of times people
do that when they are waiting for a drug dealer to make a delivery.

Likewise if people are building things that seem "trashy" or unstable,
chances are they haven't gotten the appropriate permits to build. The
county regulates what people can build so our county doesn't become
"our very own third world country". But a lot of homeowners just dive
in because they don't know that there's a process they need to follow.
Our officers can tell them what they need to do.

So, call. Let the police decide whether they need to follow up. They
need us to help them to do their job.

Police Department & Code Enforcement
(301) 927-4343

-Sarah Wayland

-- 
Sarah Wayland
sarah.wayland at gmail.com