Cameron Seeks Funds for More Lexington Park Deputies

By Guy Leonard, The County Times

HOLLYWOOD, Md.—Sheriff Timothy Cameron’s last budget request was for about $30.8 million and he says his next one for fiscal 2013 will be more, in part to hire more deputies for a special unit that would handle persistent crime and community nuisances in Lexington Park.

He was set to make his push for a community policing initiative at a presentation of his draft budget to the Community Advisory Board on Wednesday night.

Cameron said deputies working in that area of the county are often busy running back-to-back calls with very little time to deal with loitering, drinking in public and blight.

A dedicated new group assigned to the area could help assuage the problems, though Cameron said it would never completely be eliminated.

“It’s not going to go away,” Cameron said. “They’re going to be working on criminal complaints but there also going to be solving problems.”

Those problems could include organizing cleanups such as the one late last year that cleaned up a portion of the neighborhood around the old Lore’s Lodging and Laundromat.

Cameron said his initial request would be for five new deputies to cover a variety of shift schedules and contingencies.

Robin Finnacom, head of the county’s Community Development Corporation, said continuing crime problems hamper efforts to revitalize the area and damage the image of the gateway to Naval Air Station Patuxent River

“Increasing the number of police here will reduce response time, deter crime, enhance surveillance of suspected criminal activity, increase public safety and will directly support the county’s goal of improving Lexington Park’s business environment,” Finncom said. “If there’s a proposal for increased police presence I hope businesses would support that.”