Baltimore County Police walk with community residents, look to address crime concerns
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore County Police held a community impact walk in the Holland Hill neighborhood on Wednesday.
Baltimore County's new police chief, Robert McCullough, and local elected leaders walked side-by-side through the streets of Holland Hill with the neighborhood's residents.
"There a lot of good people in our community who are invested in making a change," Holland Hill Association President Rachel Keatts said. "So, this is a small portion representation of that."
Baltimore County Police call this effort a community impact walk. The department holds them about once a quarter so officers can meet with residents and ask them about their concerns regarding public safety.
"Without speaking to them and finding out what the problems really are, we can't solve or help to understand problems," Baltimore County Police Capt. Mike Fruhling said.
Neighbors told WJZ that Holland Hill is usually safe, but there have been some issues in the recent past.
"We hear gunshots pretty regularly. Speeding is a huge issue," Keatts said. "I've almost got hit on more than once just getting out of my car."
They worry about crimes from hot spots in other areas of the county spilling into their community, too.
Earlier this year, both county leaders and law enforcement scrambled to find solutions following back-to-back incidents of violent crime in Towson in the area of Towson Circle.
However, WJZ spoke to a resident that has lived in the area for 15 years. That person says the fact that police are taking the initiative to listen to their concerns is a big deal.
"That's new," the resident said. "That's pretty new. They usually don't do that. I mean, 15 years—the fire department usually makes rounds, but never the police. So, that's probably a good improvement."
The idea for this walk actually came from Maryland Delegate Carl Jackson who lives in Holland Hill. He met with the chief and asked him to meet with members of his community.