South And North County Residents Meet To Hear Government’s Solutions To Social Issues.

Sheriff John D. Carr addresses crowd at Bishop McNamara High School Feb.4. Carr told crowd that his office is understaffed and that has an impact of police work in the county. Other panelist said the samething.

Forestville, Maryland – Community members from across Prince George’s County attended a community safety meeting at Bishop McNamara High School, a Catholic coed school. The meeting was organized by newly elected Wala Blegay, district 6. The event was a response to the ongoing carjackings, and the senseless killing of Jayz Agnew, a teenager who was killed by a still unknown suspect while raking leaves in his yard. 

View The Full Video of The Meeting Here

The meeting was held in the fine arts building. Unlike other community meetings, it truly sought to address community questions and respond to a number of social issues. Penalists did not give speeches before taking questions from community members. Instead, the meeting started with introductions from each panelist. Then the event quickly moved to hearing  residents, majority older, questions and concerns. 

The meeting centered around helping people to understand what the local government is doing to address current problems.Topics discussed entailed: teenagers loitering, and marijuana use, litter on Prince George’s County roads, the county’s lack of funding to deal with the litter problem, shortage of civic workers in the police department, the sheriff’s office, and the state’s attorney’s office, police accountability, juvenile crime and law, rehabilitation and reentry programs, holding parents accountable for teenagers crimes, body cameras and neighborhood cameras, county council’s budget season, and truancy.

The event was moderated by Dr. Bobby Manning, pastor of First Baptist Church of District Heights. The meeting was headed by five panelists: Courtney E. Mariette, deputy director at The Office of Community Relations, Dr. Meloyde R. Batten-Mickens, deputy director at the Prince George’s County Office of Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Deputy Chief James McCreary, Prince George’s County Police Department, Sheriff John D. Carr, Prince George’s County Police Department, Prince George’s County States’ County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, and Maryland Delegate Nicholas “Nick” Charles, and Congressman Glenn Ivey. There were also a number of other delegates that came, but were not on the panel. 

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