Emmitsburg Cares

Danielle Ryan

(8/25) On August 11, approximately 70 members of the community along with Emmitsburg Deputy Travis Rohrer, Mayor Briggs and Commissioners Tim O’Donnell and Joseph Ritz gathered at the Emmitsburg Town Office to discuss a collaborative community action called Emmitsburg Cares. The Emmitsburg Cares group started as a group of three women who noticed an increase in violent crime and drug related incidents within Town. It is growing into a collaborative effort between Mayor Briggs, the Frederick County Sherriff’s office and Emmitsburg residents.

Elizabeth Buckman, the project’s primary figurehead, spoke out about the increase in drug related crimes. Since she has moved to Emmitsburg, she has noticed an increase in crime, which is resulting in a decrease in life for residents of the Town. Problems seen are primarily heroin, prostitution and violent crimes and robbery. She hopes that by reaching out to members of the community, residents can come together, unify and fight the problem.

Buckman mentioned that by simply being a resident of Emmitsburg, you are part of this movement. Neighbors need to look out for their neighbors. The overall goal of Emmitsburg Cares is unity and education to empower citizens to realize their rights to live in peace and safety. Deputy Rohrer and Buckman both encourage reporting suspicious behavior, watching out for one another, and creating positive constructive loitering. "If the good people of Emmitsburg get back out in town, make themselves visible, the heroin addicts will no longer dominate our free spaces. We are acting on our own authority as Americans with the support of our town and our police."

The primary slogan of the movement is "If you see something, say something." In this sense, both Buckman and Deputy Rohrer urge residents of Emmitsburg to call the police and report suspicious activity as soon as possible. As Deputy Rohrer mentioned, "there are more of you guys (residents) and not enough of us (police officers). Evil prevails every time if good people do nothing." If someone has concerns about suspicious activity in their neighborhood, they can call 911, 301-600-1046, or 301-600-2071. All calls can be anonymous if desired.