Transition to Community Safety Center
2000-2010
In 2001, in a tragic act of drug-related gang violence, a local church member was shot and killed by a stray bullet after leaving his church service. The crime remains unsolved.
The Franklintown community quickly joined forces with Kernan Hospital and the Baltimore City Police to respond to the tragedy. Jim Ross, Kernan CEO, stepped up and said, “You want to use the Gatehouse? Here’s the keys!” By 2002, the Gatehouse had been re-named the Kernan Police Substation, staffed by Franklintown’s Citizens on Patrol. The Gatehouse is across the street from a corner notorious for drug-related activity. The building was fitted with a computer connected to remote cameras that monitored the goings-on at the corner. The city police had unlimited access to the building and would use it to surveil the corner, review videos, and write reports. It was a comfortable, prime location to keep an eye on things.
During the nine years the Gatehouse was in operation as the Kernan Police Substation, there were no homicides at the corner, and the level of illegal activity was significantly reduced.
Birth of the Forest Park Action council
2010-2020
Following the closure of the Gatehouse, drug activity and violence moved back in at the corner. In 2012, there was one homicide at the corner. In 2015, there were two homicides at the corner. Later that year, a group of neighbors stepped forward to take back the corner. Led by Peter Auchincloss of Dickeyville and composed of local community associations, our local public schools, churches, apartment complex owners, and small businesses, we organized the Forest Park Action Council (FPAC) and incorporated it in 2016. With new eyes on the corner, it soon became clear the drug trade was using the corner convenience store for illicit activity. FPAC’s first success was temporarily closing the convenience store in Baltimore City using its nuisance business law. A new, fully vetted franchisee re-opened the gas station with increased police surveillance and the support of the new gas station manager; the open-air drug trade was gone for a while. Unfortunately, it did not last. Slowly, the drug trade crept back into the corner and once again seemed to be part of the landscape. Thankfully, there has been no overt violence associated with the new drug dealers. That does not mean, however, that all things are good at the corner. Having young people approach your vehicle and try to sell you drugs as you are pumping gas is a significant problem for lawful customers who are just trying to do their business and be on their way. The open-air drug market drags down the community’s reputation and impacts the value of our homes and properties. It threatens families and their children, who must pass the corner daily on their way to and from school.
Following the closure of the Gatehouse, drug activity and violence moved back in at the corner. In 2012, there was one homicide at the corner. In 2015, there were two homicides at the corner. Later that year, a group of neighbors stepped forward to take back the corner. Led by Peter Auchincloss of Dickeyville and composed of local community associations, our local public schools, churches, apartment complex owners, and small businesses, we organized the Forest Park Action Council (FPAC) and incorporated it in 2016. With new eyes on the corner, it soon became clear the drug trade was using the corner convenience store for illicit activity. FPAC’s first success was temporarily closing the convenience store in Baltimore City using its nuisance business law. A new, fully vetted franchisee re-opened the gas station with increased police surveillance and the support of the new gas station manager; the open-air drug trade was gone for a while. Unfortunately, it did not last. Slowly, the drug trade crept back into the corner and once again seemed to be part of the landscape. Thankfully, there has been no overt violence associated with the new drug dealers. That does not mean, however, that all things are good at the corner. Having young people approach your vehicle and try to sell you drugs as you are pumping gas is a significant problem for lawful customers who are just trying to do their business and be on their way. The open-air drug market drags down the community’s reputation and impacts the value of our homes and properties. It threatens families and their children, who must pass the corner daily on their way to and from school.
