The Science of Policing

Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski Combines Tone And Technology In Law Enforcement.

By Raoul Dennis // Photography and Video By Amir Stoudamire

Since the early days of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the study of criminal patterns and the use of science were recognized as valuable tools of law enforcement.

That’s really not new.

But at a time when many communities are suffering through a disconnect with local police, and criminals moving faster and using more sophisticated methods in their choices to be up to no good; many law enforcement departments find themselves facing tough challenges.

Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski recently sat with Prince George’s Suite Magazine & Media for an interview and talked about the department’s successes in a 50% reduction in violent crime (the most significant measure in 35 years), how it works, the future of the department and its successes creating broader long term opportunities for the county.

“We have set the table for creating a strong commercial tax base,” the county’s top ranking officer says of the consistent decreases in violent crime. “Our police department will address crime in ways that we didn’t before – we will focus on hospitality, and quality of life issues. Therefore, as a county we will have the type of revenue to support education, health, and other issues rather than having to put greater resources into crime solving.”

Although like all jurisdictions, Prince George’s will always contend with some measure of crime, Stawinski believes that over years to come, the county may no longer need to address crime as a hot button topic of critical proportions -  real or perceived.

“If we keep going for another 10 years at this pace, crime will never come back to Prince George’s,” he says.

Stawinski, who was born and raised in the county, would be the first to tell anyone that the trend towards public trust and safety didn’t start – or get done – through his solo efforts.

The Start Of Something Effective

It was 2005, and it was then PGPD Chief Melvin High (currently Prince George’s County Sheriff) who taught his young commander, of the planning research division, the importance of understanding that policing should reflect the ethos of the community, not just the law. It was another Chief of Police – Mark A. Magaw – who, in cooperation with another influential figure in Stawinski’s growth, Rushern L. Baker III, paved the way to forming The Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI).

But while those three men helped to set the stage, the work that Stawinski has done in Prince George’s, since becoming chief in 2016 has improved the way people view Prince George’s County, where he leads one of the largest police departments in the nation at 1,700 sworn officers.

“We have always [essentially] been a uniform service,” Stawinski says. “We have detectives, we have high-end forensic capability, and we have aviation. We have all of the things that any police department in America has – literally - and some things that a lot don’t like a gun lab, DNA lab, a drug lab, firearms examination and fingerprints lab. During that time, I had several conversations with Chief Magaw, County Executive Baker and Brad Seamon; the architects of Mr. Baker’s TNI. That was transformative in a lot of ways. I think that’s half the reason we are where we are with crime reduction today.”

About TNI

 The essence of Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI) is in placing a blended body of civic leaders, police, elected officials and community leaders together to meet regularly and hone in on the specific issues of the most challenged areas of the county. At its start in 2012, there were six TNI zones in Langley Park, Riverdale, Kentland/Palmer Park, Hillcrest Heights, Glassmanor and Suitland. Each group, local to the communities they serve, have the proximity and agility to respond to marginal or criminal activity and has the power to direct resources to those issues and areas very quickly. TNI’s success has much to do with being able to reach and strengthen the weakest links of a challenged community.

The initiative has become a national model that then County Executive Baker and Stawinski often spoke of upon request at national conferences and think tanks.

But TNI isn’t the only tool in PGPD’s approach.  

Watch this space for full story.