oward County police celebrated its annual National Night Out festivities by opening a new satellite office in the Wilde Lake Village Center Tuesday evening.
The satellite office will join other satellite offices in the Columbia villages of Harper’s Choice, Long Reach and Oakland Mills as well as in North Laurel, Police Chief William McMahon said.
Local residents said the new office might give a boost to a village center badly in need of help.
“This shopping center, it was kind of dying,” said Hamlet Hartoni, of Owen Brown, who was watching his son perform in a Taekwondo demonstration that was part of the Wilde Lake festivities. He noted that the closing of the Giant supermarket in 2006 hurt the village center and said the police satellite office could help rejuvenate it.
“When they closed that Giant, it really slowed down,” Hartoni said.
Kevin Agahi, 36, owner of Wilde Lake Martial Arts Academy, said that during the summer young people congregated in his gym and around the village center.
He said he had concerns for their safety that the new satellite office had helped alleviate.
“It makes it easier,” he said.
As part of the 26th annual National Night Out, police departments across the country sponsored block parties for the public in an effort to foster stronger ties between the police and the communities they serve.
Howard County’s four other police satellite offices also hosted parties, police said, along with about 20 other communities in Howard County.
About 50 law enforcement, local government officials and civilians attended the Wilde Lake kick-off.
Chief McMahon and County Executive Kenneth Ulman addressed the crowd, explaining the new satellite office and extolling the virtues of the National Night Out.
The festivities included the Taekwondo demonstration, and police and civilians milled around eating pizza and chatting.
The new office will be staffed by Officer Anthony Nigro, who will work with local businesses, residents and community associations. Nigro will supplement the patrol officers and will work on long-term solutions for crime problems in the area, McMahon said.
Nigro said he applied for the job because it offered him the chance to work with both patrol officers and the community.
“This office gives me a unique opportunity to assist patrol officers, but also be a resource for the community,” he said.
McMahon said another new satellite office will be opened in Owen Brown within two months.
Kendall Fedor, 52, of Wilde Lake, happened upon the National Night Out event by accident.
“I came around the corner and went, `Whoa!” she said.
Fedor said she was concerned that vacant store fronts could lead to increased crime. “We miss our Giant,” she said. “We really need a supermarket around here.”
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An encouraging Night Out for the community
