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 Sharing Our Stake in Maryland's Public Safety | September 2012 |
The Public Safety Stakeholder
 An E-publication of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for our Criminal Justice and Community Partners |
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Did You See Us
In The News?
Recent sightings of our public safety efforts in your local media are updated daily on the DPSCS homepage
Recent headlines:
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Baltimore Faith-Based
Community Forum
October 4, 2012
DPSCS and the Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Human Services and Neighborhoods invite religious leaders, volunteers and service organizations to discuss ways to improve reentry at New Psalmist Baptist Church.
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DPSCS' mission is to protect the public, our employees and those under our supervision.
Governor Martin O'Malley Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown
DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard |
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 | | Pictured is one of several puppies who will be trained to be a service dogs for a wounded or disabled military veteran. For more photos related to this program, visit Partnership with America's VetDogs |
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 | keeping communities safe |
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9-1-1 Operators Honored at Annual Emergency Number Systems Board Day of Celebration
Across Maryland 9-1-1 operators answer the call for help 24-7, assisting citizens with everything from medical emergencies to criminal encounters. Each year during the month of September the Emergency Number Systems Board (ENSB) takes the opportunity to thank those hard-working operators for their commit ment, patience and often bravery during their annual 9-1-1 Day of Celebration
This year's event, held at the Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department in Howard County, honored 9-1-1 telecommunicators from every county, Baltimore City, and Maryland State Police. Several jurisdictions honored entire shifts of employees for extraordinary efforts during crisis situations that brought in as many as three thousand calls in one shift, such as the unusual derecho storm that hit the Baltimore area recently. Barbara Jaeger, President of the National Emergency Number Association, was the event's keynote speaker.
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 | believing in human capital |
Letting Incarcerated Veterans Stay Connected to their Military Service
 One of the major efforts DPSCS is undertaking is connecting incarcerated veterans to services that will help them transition back to society. Part of that effort involves allowing veterans groups in prison to participate in many meaningful activities.
Each September, the Incarcerated Veterans of Roxbury hold a solemn ceremony on National POW-MIA Recognition Day which may be the only one of its kind behind prison walls in America.
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Inmates Rescue a Forgotten Baltimore Cemetery
Among the many Public Safety Works projects DPSCS has undertaken in the past three years have been cleanup and restoration efforts in cemeteries large and small from Baltimore to the Eastern Shore and southern Maryland.
 This fall, DPSCS brought victory to the friends of St. Vincent's, a tiny, overgrown, and long-forgotten burial ground hidden in the heart of a sprawling Baltimore City golf course.
The cemetery, resting place for more than 3,200 people, was bulldozed in the 1980s and had been badly neglected since then. The five-acre parcel is completely surrounded by Clifton Park Golf Course in northeast Baltimore, largely unknown to all but a few citizens.
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"Telecommunicators are the backbone of Maryland's emergency operations," stated ENSB Director Gordon Deans. "They keep citizens connected with law enforcement and EMTs in times of immediate danger, often handling frantic calls that are emotionally draining for the operator. But they do it with little complaints, and often receive little thanks. Today we are taking the opportunity to change that - to let them know they are heroes."
The Emergency Number Systems Board is a little known unit of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Although they do not directly manage the state's 24 primary 9-1-1 centers, they provide funding, training and technology advancements to ensure Maryland is a progressive state when it comes to handling emergency communications.
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Incarcerated Veterans continued
This year, more than three dozen inmates paused for a half hour at the flag court inside the Roxbury compound. They sang, prayed, and read the names of veterans missing in action.
The effort is one of many veterans group events occurring throughout the DPSCS system, where the service of veterans before they were incarcerated is acknowledged by staff. DPSCS makes sure to work with incarcerated veterans to provide veteran-related activities throughout the year.
This fall, DPSCS will host a daylong veteran-offender conference at Perry Point, a further effort to help incarcerated veterans in prison, and provide services to those who are soon to get out.
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Inmates Rescue a Forgotten Baltimore Cemetery continued
During the past few months, DPSCS has played the key role in getting St. Vincent's cleaned up and returned to a place of dignity. Sun columnist Jacques Kelly noted the noble inmate effort in a newspaper column this fall.
"This is a major victory in the making," says DPSCS Inmate Public Works Coordinator John Rowley, who continues to work with the cemetery's advocates to further restore St. Vincent.
To find out whether inmates can help your state government agency, municipal department, or non-profit, contact Mr. Rowley at 301 573 7175 or via email at jrowley@dpscs.state.md.us.
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