UMPD to Share Policing Duties in More College Park Neighborhoods

The University of Maryland has committed to expanding its police department’s overlapping jurisdiction with Prince George’s County police to three more neighborhoods near campus, according to officials.

Though the University of Maryland Police Department is chiefly responsible for public safety on campus, it has an agreement with the PGPD to share some responsibilities—such as active patrols and responding to calls—in off-campus areas with large concentrations of student housing.

Those neighborhoods include downtown College Park and Old Town College Park, which are primarily policed by the PGPD but which recieve secondary coverage from the UMPD.

Now there are plans in place to broaden the UMPD's reach to Crystal Springs, Lakeland, and the high-rise student apartment buildings west of Route 1 and north of the campus—areas that have seen their student populations grow in recent years.

Rob Specter, UMD's vice president for administration and finance, said he has reallocated approximately $500,000 to the UMPD to make the expansion possible.

“This funding will help the police beef up their personnel and make equipment purchases that will enable them to be able to successfully extend the concurrent jurisdiction,” Specter said. 

The plan follows several notable off-campus crimes that directly affected UMD students. Crystal Springs was the scene of a grisly murder-suicide in February, while the other two areas have experienced a number of armed robberies.

“Our mission is to provide public safety services to the university community and that includes areas with a large component of student housing,” Specter said. “We want to make sure that our police are able to provide these services in these areas.” 

PGPD will remain the primary agency responsible for these neighborhoods but will now have the option to pass along calls to the UMPD. 

“PGPD has, and continues to have, a strong working relationship with UMPD,” said PGPD Lt. Bill Alexander. “We will continue to partner with UMPD in an effort to reduce and eliminate criminal activity on and around the UMD campus.” 

UMPD spokesman Sgt. Aaron Davis said there are many benefits that will come from the expanded jurisdiction, including an increase in the number of officers patrolling various neighborhoods—a change that could help prevent minor crimes and ensure quicker responses.

“Response time will be better,” he said. “If PGPD doesn’t have the resources or available units to respond to a call in College Park, they can contact us and we can help them out with that extended area.”  

University of Maryland senior Ari Hock said he appreciates the expansion but believes the PGPD should still remain in charge. 

“I think if the university police has the resources to expand into other neighborhoods, that could be a good thing provided that they don’t interfere with the duties of the county police,” said Hock, a marketing and supply chain management double major.    

While there is no fixed date yet for when the expansion will go into effect, Davis said he's confident it will happen soon. 

“At this point, it’s just a matter of nailing down what the provisions are going to be and how it will be implemented,” Davis said. “But there’s nobody opposed to it. Everybody wants it to happen.”