Police Pledge Cooperation to Protect Latinos

Police in Montgomery and Prince George's counties say they are increasingly working together to combat crime in a community that straddles their shared border, an area where residents are urging greater coordination of law enforcement.

The issue, the subject of a community meeting attended by nearly 100 residents this week, has taken on greater importance in recent months as the number of slayings, particularly of Latinos, has increased. Latinos make up a large part of the population in the area.

"We're all over this," said Capt. Donald Johnson, commander of the easternmost police district in Montgomery. "We understand that criminals don't recognize borders."

The region -- sometimes called the Maryland International Corridor -- is centered on New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard East. It includes Langley Park in Prince George's, Long Branch in Montgomery and the northern part of Takoma Park, which has its own police department.

The involvement of the three jurisdictions brings certain challenges, and not just for police.

Today, Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), Prince George's County Council member William A. Campos (D-Hyattsville) and CASA of Maryland will host a tour of Long Branch and Langley Park. The tour intends to highlight health care, road safety and other initiatives.

Some difficulties are unique to the police. Emergency 911 calls bouncing off cellphone towers occasionally go to the wrong dispatcher. Not all officers can communicate immediately by radio with their counterparts across borders. And community groups must sometimes go to multiple jurisdictions to get funding.

Although Montgomery as a whole is less than 12 percent Latino, almost 50 percent of the Long Branch neighborhood is Latino, according to CASA of Maryland, an immigrant advocacy group. In Langley Park, the Latino population is 80 percent; it is about 7 percent countywide, according to CASA. The group estimates the area's per-capita income at $11,000 to $15,000.

CASA called the community meeting in part to draw attention to recent crime in the area, including the May 27 slaying of a shopkeeper in Silver Spring and a spate of killings in Langley Park. Many of the residents who turned out encouraged the police to hire more Spanish-speaking officers, a long-standing concern that the commanders said they are addressing.

Even so, residents asked questions in Spanish, and a private citizen acting as an interpreter was necessary for them to communicate with the police commanders on a stage Wednesday night at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring.

Johnson, the Montgomery captain, said he has 19 Spanish-speaking patrol officers, detectives and civilians in his district. The officers, however, are spread out among shifts and a large coverage area that extends north into Montgomery.

Maj. Kevin Davis, commander of District 1 of the Prince George's Police Department, said the number of bilingual officers in his district has increased to about 40 from 12.

Some residents raised concerns about policing tactics. "We don't think it's right for the police to ask for identification for [passengers] who are inside the vehicle" during traffic stops, Podrigo Angulo said. "Please, we want you to make a statement that the county policy is that the police will not be about the business of applying civil immigration law. Thank you very much."

The commanders said officers do not go out to their way to enforce immigration laws. They said their policy is to not ask witnesses or crime victims about immigration status.

CASA of Maryland invited only two of the three jurisdictions to the meeting, neglecting to mention it to the department in Takoma Park.

"I don't understand it," said Ron Ricucci, Takoma Park's police chief. "If we would have been invited, we'd have been there. . . . We're right in the middle of the area."

Mario Quiroz, a CASA spokesman, said Takoma Park police were not invited because residents have not complained about services or relations with them.