City Offices and Facilities Closed Sunday May 26 & May 27- In Observance of Memorial Day
City Offices and Facilities will be closed Sunday, May 26, and Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day. As always, the Takoma Park Police Department is open for emergency services. We wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday.
Library Renovations: Updated: May 14, 2024 -TKPK Celebrates a Major Construction Milestone With a Structural Steel Topping-off Ceremony on May 21 from 3-3:30 pm
The scheduling of demolition and construction timelines are pending weather.
From Visioning to Refining: Montgomery Planning to Release Minor Master Plan Draft
The Takoma Park Minor Master Plan team is presenting their Preliminary Recommendations to the Takoma Park City Council on April 10 and the Montgomery County Planning Board on April 20. These recommendations will incorporate the results of our community engagement efforts, including the Visioning Workshop held last October.
You are invited to attend a community meeting on April 18 at 6:30 pm at the City Auditorium, where you will have an opportunity to weigh in on the recommendations and provide feedback. If you are unable to attend in person, you can also register to participate virtually.
If you missed an earlier opportunity to speak with us or are unable to attend the community meeting, you can still reach out to us directly to share your thoughts at: TakomaParkMMA@montgomeryplanning.org.
Share your thoughts on bike safety in the City, current bike projects, and opportunities to improve our bike networks. Join staff from the City Planning Division for a virtual bike safety roundtable event on April 20th or 21st.
Virtual Roundtable Meeting
Date: Thursday, April 20 @ 7:30 pm OR Friday, April 21 @ 12:30 pm
Who: Anyone who is invested in making Takoma Park a better place to ride a bike.
Registration: Register for one of the meetings, visit: bit.ly/TPBikeways
The Police Department and Ward 2 City Councilmember Cindy Dyballa will be holding a community meeting to discuss public safety issues in Ward 2.
Police Department staff will be providing an update on recent incidents in Ward 2 and provide an overall overview of crime stats/trends and security measures put in place to address these trends.
The meeting will be in-person, and a Zoom Webinar will also be available to join and ask questions.
Meeting Information
Date: Thursday, April 27, 2023 Time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Takoma Park Recreation Center 7315 New Hampshire Avenue Takoma Park, Maryland.
The Takoma Park City Council is happy to announce that it has appointed David Eubanks as Acting Deputy City Manager, effective Monday, March 6, 2023.
Acting Deputy City Manager David Eubanks
Mr. Eubanks joined the City of Takoma Park in 2021 as the Deputy Director of Public Works and is currently the Director of Housing and Community Development (HCD). As HCD Director, Mr. Eubanks has been instrumental in advancing key City initiatives such as the library construction project. Prior to joining the City, Mr. Eubanks had over a decade of experience in housing and community development. The Council looks forward to working with Mr. Eubanks in this new role.
The Council would also like to thank Acting Deputy City Managers Rosalind Grigsby and Gregory Clark for their service in the Deputy City Manager role. Both will be returning to their official positions, Rosalind Grigsby as Planning Manager and Gregory Clark as Director of the Recreation Department. The Council appreciates their support during this time of transition and looks forward to working with them in these roles.
Looking forward, the Council is working to identify an Interim City Manager to manage the City until a new permanent City Manager is selected. Additional details regarding the City Manager search are forthcoming. We appreciate your continued understanding as we move forward during this time of transition.
Effective February 13, 2023, City Manager Jamal Fox resigned from his position as the City Manager with the City of Takoma Park. Fox was hired in 2021 for a specific and critical time of transition for the City of Takoma Park. Fox stated, “it has been a privilege to work alongside the professional and dedicated staff, community members, Council, and Senior Leadership Team.”
The City Council thanks Mr. Fox for his service to the City and wishes him the best in his future endeavors. Acting Deputy City Managers Rosalind Grigsby and Greg Clark will continue to share the duties of Deputy City Manager until an Interim City Manager is announced.
We are very concerned about the increase in violent crime in Takoma Park. These violent incidents that have plagued our region are now impacting our City far too frequently.
We are doing everything we can to address the increase in crime in Takoma Park. This includes increased patrols, both uniform and plainclothes, as well as overtime details to put more officers in identified “hot spot” problem areas. We want to make sure criminals know that Takoma Park is not a “soft target.”
We ask that residents continue to act as our eyes and ears, “if you see something say something.” Community members can also leave anonymous tips on our 911 Tip Line, Residents’ calls/tips have led to officers being able to make arrests for in-progress crimes and have also provided information that has helped us solve crimes.
We have made several arrests for crimes in Takoma Park, including the arrests of two individuals responsible for multiple burglaries in Takoma Park and the arrest of a juvenile in the recent carjacking on Westmoreland Ave. We will continue to investigate incidents to ensure offenders are identified and charged professionally.
We have held multiple Public Safety Ward meetings in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6, as well as more focused neighborhood meetings to hear from residents, provide crime stats and crime prevention tips, and update residents on incidents in Takoma Park. Our next meeting, focused on Ward 5, will take place on Monday, March 13th.
Long-term, we must take a holistic approach to addressing the causes of criminal activity. Until we address these underlying issues, lack of education, food security, jobs, etc., the cycle of crime and violence will continue. The police alone cannot solve the problem. We look forward to the City implementing some of the recommendations made by the Takoma Park Reimagining Public Safety Task Force that help address these issues and continuing to look for ways to address the root causes of criminal behavior.
We are doing everything we can to keep our residents safe and secure while still protecting the values and small-town identity of Takoma Park.
We are always open to ideas and input. Have suggestions? Please send them to me at Chief DeVaul.
I am deeply disturbed by the actions of the five Memphis police officers in the murder of Tyre Nichols. Watching the video of the beating death of Mr. Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers was extremely difficult and brought me to tears. The actions taken by the involved officers were merciless, heinous, and incredibly disturbing and went against the basic law enforcement principle of preserving life. The lack of compassion, abuse of power, and use of excessive force were inhumane and inexcusable. I am glad to see swift action was taken, and the five police officers involved in the murder of Tyre Nichols and the two firemen who failed to render proper medical care to Mr. Nichols have been fired. I am also glad to see the five police officers charged with murder and other criminal charges.
We can no longer sit back and allow these incidents to happen. Real change must happen. The fact that both Mr. Nichols and the five officers involved were African-American was not lost on me. As your police chief, I am acknowledging the role traditional police culture plays in many of these horrific incidents. The fact that the officers who murdered Mr. Nichols were assigned to a unit called the “Scorpions” speaks volumes about the mission of the unit and the mentality of the officers in the unit.
Police culture, with an “us against them” mentality, must change. I am committed to changing this culture. This begins with hiring individuals who want to be police officers for the right reasons, providing ongoing training to officers, and holding officers accountable for their unjust actions. We must also train our officers to de-escalate situations with dialog, not force.
We regularly review our policies and procedures, but given this sobering moment, it requires our department to review and ensure our policies, practices, and oversight in our duty to protect our officers and the community from any circumstance even mildly akin to this type of tragedy. All Takoma Park officers have undergone Active Bystander for Law Enforcement Training (ABLE- https://www.law.georgetown.edu/cics/able/) and de-escalation training. We also have a duty to intervene policy requiring all officers to intervene when they observe misconduct by other officers.
We, as a community and a nation, must come together to address the issues facing the law enforcement profession. I and all of the members of the Takoma Park Police Department are committed to being part of the solution, not the problem. We are stronger together!
We are always open to ideas and input on providing equal and equitable service to all our community members. Have suggestions? Please send them to me at tonyd@takomaparkmd.gov.
On Thursday, January 26, 2023, the Police Department and Ward 3 City Councilmember Randy Gibson held a community meeting to discuss public safety issues in Ward 3.
If you had a question that didn’t get asked, or that you thought of after the meeting, please feel free to email them to Cathy Plevy and we will get you a response.
Contact:
Catherine Plevy Public Information Officer Takoma Park Police Department
Contact Information for Emergencies and/or Services During Bad Weather
We are expecting some wintry weather in the DMV over the next few days. Please know who to contact in an emergency and check on your neighbors.
For any storm-related emergencies, including any injury, tree into a structure, or downed power lines that could still be electrified, call 911.
To report downed branches and other debris in the public right of way – roadways or sidewalks – contact Takoma Park Public Works at: publicworks@takomaparkmd.gov or 301-891-7633.
Utilities
For power outages and to check estimated restoration times, call Pepco at 1-877-737-2662 or visit their power outage webpage at Pepco Power Outage Map.
Montgomery County: County officials recommend precautionarymeasures such as wearing masks to slow transmission, protect the most vulnerable populations, and keep hospitalizations down as COVID-19 cases rise in the region.
County cases have steadily risen, doubling since the recent low on November 28, 2022. Information provided by Ron Hardy, Emergency Preparedness Manager.
