Local Police Departments Not 'a Slap in the Face,' Chief Says

WASHINGTON -- Voters in Bowie and College Park overwhelmingly chose to develop their own police departments on Tuesday night. So what does Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High think about the split?

"I don't see that as a slap in the face. That's just simply the course of normal growth for communities," High said Wednesday on WTOP's Ask the Chief Program Wednesday morning.

On election night in College Park, by a margin of 670 votes to 649 votes, voters passed a referendum authorizing the next City Council to increase taxes to pay for a police department, according to unofficial results. Voters in Bowie also chose to establish a local police department.

But High said the decision to create local police forces should be expected.

"As Bowie grows in size and as College Park grows in size, I think that's the trend in America that people establish police agencies because they want a service that they directly manage and so on and so forth."

It will take a number of years for Bowie and College Park to completely change over to their own police agencies, so the transition should be smooth, High said.

High says his department will continue to have sizeable police forces in those departments, even after they establish their own forces.

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