Baltimore County police will be stepping up neighborhood patrols in Towson on the weekends, thanks to a grant from Towson University meant to help stem trouble from rowdy students.
“It’s important to us to work with our partner neighborhoods,” said Jana Varwig, associate vice president for student development programs and services.
The grant paid county police about $27,000 last year over two semesters to assign extra officers to the neighborhoods surrounding Towson University on Thursdays through Saturday nights, Varwig said, saying the grant can vary from year to year.
Its goal is to reduce noise and vandalism as students come back from bars and parties, Varwig said.The initiative is one of multiple ways the university is attempting to make peace between its students and the surrounding residential neighborhoods.
“We try to remind our students that they’re living in a community with people with a variety of different lifestyles,” she said. “They may be up at 2 a.m., but the rest of us will not be.”
For at least 10 years, the university has given police the grant for the fall semester, traditionally a busier time for parties, Varwig said.
Capt. Jan Brown, of the Towson Precinct, requested this year that the program be expanded into the spring for the second year after hearing community complaints.
Many incidents happen while students walk back to their dorms from the bars in downtown Towson through residential neighborhoods, he said.
Read full article: Towson University gives county grant to police unruly students this spring – Baltimore Sun
