First Safe Silver Spring Summit to be held on May 16th - Press Release

Contact: Tony Hausner, 301-587-6943 (cell 301-641-0497) thausner@gmail.com

First Safe Silver Spring Summit to be held on May 16th

The First Safe Silver Spring Summit will be held at the Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, 7600 Takoma Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Prezco* (Presidents’ Council of Silver Spring Civic Associations), the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board, and the Silver Spring Regional Center will convene the Summit.

Silver Spring is a revitalized, dynamic and diverse urban and suburban community. The mission of Safe Silver Spring is to develop strategies, partnerships and goals to keep Silver Spring a community where people can live, work, travel, shop and play safely.

The first Safe Silver Spring Summit will bring together citizens, community leaders, non-profit organizations, and public officials to develop an action plan that enables communities to prevent and reduce crime and keep our neighborhoods safer.

“I want to commend the leaders of Safe Silver Spring for convening our residents in an open and constructive discussion of public safety issues. As a 22-year resident of Silver Spring, I know that our community’s safety is paramount and it is one of my top priorities as your Councilmember,” said Councilmember Valerie Ervin, who represents Silver Spring.

The Summit is in response to increasing concern about assaults and robberies in Silver Spring’s commercial areas and burglaries, vehicle break-ins and thefts in residential areas. Andrew Kleine, Prezco Moderator, believes “Prezco and our partners all feel that law enforcement, the community, businesses and other organizations need to work together to address our concerns with crime and safety in Silver Spring.”

The Summit will consist of overview presentations and seven workshops that will be held in the morning and then repeated in the afternoon. The seven workshop topics are:

1. Making Safe and Civil Public Spaces
2. Gangs and Pack Robberies
3. Youth: Schools, Truants, and Kids Hanging Out
4. Policing, Security, Resources, and Communication
5. Por qué y Cómo Comenzar una Vegilancia Communitaria (Why and How to Start a Neighborhood Watch) (Workshop will be in Spanish)
6. Silver Spring Central Business District (CBD)
7. Residential Neighborhoods adjacent to the SSCBD

Both resource experts and community residents will participate in these workshops to develop action plans to address issues in each of these areas.

Other organizations participating in this Summit include: 3rd District Police District, State Attorney’s Office, Northwest Park Oakview Weed and Seed, Montgomery County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, International Corridor C-Safe, MD Community Crime Prevention Institute, Downtown Silver Spring, Montgomery County Public Schools Safe and Drug Free Schools, Safe Takoma, Impact Silver Spring, CASA de Maryland, MD Office of Crime Control and Prevention, USDOJ/COPS, and the Office of Councilmember Valerie Ervin.

Due to space limitations, pre-registration is recommended by May 7. Please send an email to SafeSilverSpring@gmail.com or call 301-431-4185 ext 212 to sign-up.

When registering, attendees will need to specify the morning or afternoon session, provide their first two choices for workshop topics, and indicate if there is a need for language (e.g., Spanish, Amharic, or sign) language translation or other special needs.

*Prezco neighborhoods include: East Silver Spring, Indian Spring, Linden, North Hills of Sligo Creek, North Woodside/Montgomery Hills, Park Hills, Seven Oaks-Evanswood, Sligo Branview, South Silver Spring, Woodside, Woodside Forest, and Woodside Park.