New Baltimore City Police Lounge Hopes To Build Relationships With Community
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Tucked away at the corner of Druid Hill Avenue and Dolphin Street is a new Baltimore City Police lounge.
The lounge provides an area for officers to further engage with the community while on the job.
"Sometimes it's just necessary to be right there in the community where people can walk in, schedule a meeting and officers can take a lunch break there without going back to the station," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison.
The Baltimore Police Department partnered with the Union Baptist Church to unveil the new area Saturday morning.
In one room, officers can meet with community members, while the other is a spot for officers to answer calls and take a quick break before getting back to work.
"If you have a call over here at Dolphin, you use the bathroom quick and get over there quick instead of going all the way downtown then fight with the traffic then getting all the way up here to answer a call," said Officer Dennis Gillespie, BPD Community Relations officer.
"There's really no barrier between our church, our community and our officers," said Rev. Dr. Alvin Hathaway with Union Baptist Church.
Rev. Hathaway said the lounge was funded by members of the church and Wheelabrator.
Commissioner Harrison said together they can work to build a better relationship with the community.
"It creates high visibility it creates partnership and its a safe place for people who live and work here can come in and meet with officers," Commissioner Harrison said.
He said the office will be available for officers to meet with members of the community, and they ask that whoever wants to should make an appointment.