Aberdeen police chief says violent crime not as bad as some think, seeks more community cooperation

The overall level of violent crime is decreasing in Aberdeen, despite several high-profile crimes this summer – including three homicides – according to the city's police chief.&quot;Violent crime has been down in Aberdeen each year,&quot; Chief Henry Trabert said Thursday evening during a community forum at the Boys and Girls Club.Thursday's event was the second forum the police department has hosted in East Aberdeen since June. The first was after two people were shot to death in June at an East Bel Air Avenue apartment complex next to the Boys and Girls Club.Since then, a woman was stabbed to death in the 100 block of North Post Road in late July, and the playground at Victory Park was heavily damaged in an Aug. 18 arson.&quot;We're not used to that over here,&quot; Trabert said. &quot;We're not used to murders – we go years without murders, and we've had three of them in a couple months.&quot;One person was killed in Aberdeen in 2015, and no homicides happened in 2014.Trabert had pledged in June to hold another forum later this summer. About 30 people, including city and county leaders, attended Thursday's event.People could air concerns about crime and quality-of-life issues such as loitering, littering, juvenile delinquency, roads in disrepair and a lack of adequate street lighting.The event was also broadcast live online via Facebook.&quot;This is a conversation with the community, that's all it is,&quot; Trabert said.The chief noted cooperation from residents was critical in making arrests in the three homicides and the playground fire.&quot;It's because of the people sitting here that makes our job a lot easier as far as catching the bad guys,&quot; Trabert said.Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Trabert interacts with the community during a forum at the Boys & Girls Club in East Aberdeen Thursday evening.Detective Sgt. Will Reiber, a police department spokesperson, stressed that &quot;no crime is insignificant to us.&quot;He said he has been hosting quarterly meetings with managers of apartment complexes across the city, and that police are cracking down on drug dealing and a rash of bicycle thefts.Reiber said the department has a &quot;pilot program&quot; to use decoy bikes, placed in locations such as the Amtrak/MARC train station on West Bel Air Avenue, to catch thieves.&quot;We were able to make an arrest almost immediately,&quot; he said.He said people can provide information to police anonymously, either by phone at 410-272-2121, online at http://www.aberdeenpolice.org or via the Aberdeen Police Department Facebook page.William Roten, a neighborhood resident, said he has seen children impeding traffic while riding their bikes through the intersection of Post Road and East Bel Air Avenue. He has also seen youths out at night causing trouble, such as throwing eggs at houses.&quot;Honestly, there is not anything [for children] to do,&quot; Roten said. &quot;When you don't have anything to do you're going to get in trouble.&quot;He also noted many of their parents work night shifts, meaning they are left to their own devices at night.Catherine Hooker, co-pastor at the New Beginnings Church of God in Aberdeen, said she and fellow clergy members who are part of a pastoral prayer team visited Victory Park the previous Saturday to pray for the community.The team also visited the police department's Community Fun Day in Church Green Park, which many local families attended, according to the chief.Hooker noted many children she knows in the community do not have fathers at home.&quot;It made an impact to see a male figure out there, doing community good,&quot; she told TrabertCity Councilman Tim Lindecamp expressed concerns about people seen loitering on the Aberdeen Boulevard overpass around the train station.Reiber said the overpass is owned by the State Highway Administration, and &quot;no loitering&quot; signs have recently been posted. The city is also working with the SHA to increase the number of security cameras to monitor the overpass.The station is a stop on the Harford County Transit LINK bus line, and many people who might be considered loiterers &quot;are just waiting for a bus, and they have nowhere to sit,&quot; Reiber said.The mayor and City Council voted, during a special meeting just before the forum, in favor of a contract for more than $35,000 for the design phase of installing five bus shelters around the city, including at the train station.Public Works Director Kyle Torster fielded questions and complaints about street lights and road conditions. He said the city has budgeted money during the current fiscal year to replace asphalt on many city streets.Torster also recently met with SHA officials about the ongoing widening of Route 22 between Beards Hill Road and Aberdeen Proving Ground. He said the state expects to be finished by the fall of 2017 – many delays have been caused by having to relocate utility lines.People stayed for about 30 minutes after the forum ended to talk with police leaders.Jeffrey Beyer owns the Havre de Grace-based companies that manage and maintain the 80 East Bel Air Ave. apartments where the double homicide happened outside the apartments in June. The victims did not live there.&quot;A few more of these around the area, to help out everywhere, would be great,&quot; he said of the community forums.

Aberdeen police chief says violent crime not as bad as some think, seeks more community cooperation

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