Metro police sweep planned today in Prince George’s stations, Including Greenbelt

By Robert Thomson, DR. Gridlock, Washington Post, 2011.04.13
The Metro transit police, along with the county and municipal police departments in Prince George’s, have announced plans for what Metro calls “a major, high-visibility crime prevention and anti-terrorism event” at 15 stations [today] during the afternoon rush. MORE

Apr 17-18 Public Comments on Prince George's Police Compliance with Accreditation Standards

Click image to enlarge or print.

As stated in the enclosed Public Notice, "comments must address the PGPD's ability to comply with CALEA standards". But i learned that a copy of the book with the 400+ CALEA standards is available for citizen's to read only at PGPD headquarters, 7600 Barlowe Rd, Palmer Park, MD (MAP). If you are able to go to PGPD headquarters to read the CALEA standards there, contact Donald Pike at (301) 772-4775.

You can order a copy of the CALEA law enforcement agency standards publication for $45 at this link but it might not arrive before the April 17 - 18 public comment period. I'm told that not all CALEA standards apply to all law enforcement agencies being accredited by CALEA.

In any case, please consider submitting your comments, whether or not you are able to read the CALEA standards before hand.

Apr 15 - May 1 Free Admission to 3-Weekend Fair at Laurel Racetrack

Click images to enlarge.

Something fun for kids and adults the next three weekends.

You can get free tickets ($8 value) at merchants around South Laurel (copies not accepted). Free tickets are no longer available on the LaurelFair.com website -- just 2-1 discount coupons that they email to you.

I have seen the free tickets at these stores in Crystal Plaza (Muirkirk Rd at Rt. 197), no purchase necessary:
  • Cameron's Seafood
  • Pizza & Wings
  • Subway
  • Yum's Chinese Food
  • Island Flavors Caribbean Food
  • Dollar Inn Dollar Store
And in Town Center (Contee Rd at Rt.197) at:
  • Tiffany's Beauty Supply
This fair appears not to be affiliated with City of Laurel or local businesses.

Prince George's County Police Crime Incident Data Now on CrimeReports.com

Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) is now reporting county crime incidents at the free web site CrimeReports.com . That web site merges PGPD crime incident data with other kinds of information from other sources onto a full-feature Google map (streets, satellite, terrain, etc), and also in a list sortable by Crime type, Date, or Distance (Click the Crime Details tab at the left screen margin). When i checked, the data seemed to go back to at least December 1, 2010.

In the map or Crime Details list, click on each incident for details including the source, date, time and location at which the incident was reported to police -- not necessarily indicative of the date, time or location of the incident itself.  Be aware that you will see also incidents located outside your immediate neighborhood and outside Prince George's County Police jurisdiction (see below).

Go to CrimeReports.com and create a free account, then:
  • Choose Map Tools (display settings) 
    • Date Range
    • Incident layers (types of incidents and other data to be displayed)
    • Map Layers (local neighborhood boundaries)
  • THEN in SEARCH enter a location (zip or street address) to set the center of the map display. 
    • 9100 Muirkirk Rd, Laurel, MD is about the center of South Laurel 
    • Zoom  in or out.
    • SEARCH will display all incidents that fit your criteria and fit on the screen. That includes locations outside your immediate neighborhood or outside Prince George's County -- such as nearby counties or cities that are not within Prince George's County Police jurisdiction. The Source shows the jurisdiction, not the geographic location (the geographic location is shown by the incident pin on the map and the street address).
    • Some map pins indicate multiple incidents at the same location. Zooming will not disaggregate them.
      Click on the icon to see a scrolling list of multiple incidents at that location.   
You can also create daily email alerts for your area and choice of incident types, which will send you all your selected incident types from each previous day.

You can also subscribe to email alerts from local law enforcement agencies. It is not clear if such alerts are working yet in CrimeReports.com for Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD).

Some parts of CrimeReports.com are still in development -- so expect changes in how its menus work, etc. If you have technical trouble with the web site, try updating/installing. Adobe Flash Player.

See also PGPD Information Websites and Social Networking Sites 
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PGPD crime data is also available at http://spotcrime.com/md/prince+george%27s+county
though the association with PGPD is unclear.