Community safety is a shared responsibility.  We all need to work together to keep our community safe.  Please report any suspicious behavior to the Police.

Howard County Police Department

Emergency: Dial 911

Report an incident, non-emergency: 410-313-2200

Owen Brown is in the Southern District, Beat C

Our Community Resource Officer is Officer Sharpe.  Officer Sharpe is based out of the Neighborhood Community Resource Office in the Owen Brown Village Center (or will be shortly) .  The office is located in the Owen Brown Village Center, at 7154 Cradlerock Way in Columbia. Residents can contact the Owen Brown satellite office by calling 410-313-6206. In the event of an emergency, residents should not call the satellite office, they should call 911.

Other useful Police Department information:

Howard County Police Department Website

Daily Crime Bulletin

Contact information

Safety Tips

County Safety Services for Residents

- Neighborhood Watch Information - Community Service Section - 410-313-4780

Graffiti 

Graffiti is a serious problem in our community and communities through the state and the country.  

Help us stay on top of graffiti by Reporting graffiti in Owen Brown

For more information on how graffiti impacts communities and what to do about it, visit http://www.graffitihurts.org/

Graffiti Cleanup

It is the responsibility of the propery owner to remove graffit on their property.  When you report graffit to the Owen Brown Community Association, we will contact the necessary authorities but have no direct control over how quickly graffiti gets cleaned/covered up.  Community Association staff should be able to assist in determining the property owner if you would like to contact them, Here are some specific contact information for large private owners:

• Comcast - Donna Richardson
  • Email: Donna_Richardson@cable.comcast.com
  •  
• Verizon -Phone: 1-800-837-4966
• BGE
  • Utlity Boxes - Contact CA
    • Phone: 410-312-6330
  • General Issues - Mike Fowler
    • Email: Michael.L.Fowler@constellation.com
    • Phone: 410-269-5279
  • Emergencies (Outages and Street Light Outages)
    • Phone: 1-800-685-0123
• CA - Kay Plaskowitz or Rosalie Kane
  • Phone: 410-312-6330
• GGP - Kevin Budny
  • Email: kevin.budny@ggp.com
  • Phone: 410-715-8137
• Department of Public Works (Bureau of Highway) (signs)
  • Customer Service: 410-313-7450
• Department of Planning and Zoning
• Bus Shelters
• Howard County Public School System - Olivia Claus
  • Email: Olivia_Claus@hcpss.org
  • Phone: 410-313-2595

STREET CAPTAIN PROGRAM

Don’t know enough about what’s going on in Owen Brown?  Want an excuse to get to know neighbors you haven’t met?  Want to bring new energy to your street?

Then join the Owen Brown Street Captain program!

The Owen Brown Street captain program is a network of village residents that are committed to creating a sense of community and facilitating communication within their neighborhoods.   Our belief is that this simple act of networking neighbors through this program will unearth community needs and will help connect those people who want to be more involved in their community with a variety of volunteer opportunities. 

Being a Street Captain requires very little time.  At its heart, the program is a two-way flow of news between residents and the Village – primarily via e-mail.  This includes helping spread the word about Village-wide events, sharing info about successful block events that other Street Captains may want to copy, alerting neighbors about issues of concern, and much more.

Besides increasing communication, this sort of grassroots networking can help connect people who want to be more involved with activities that they may want to take on, and can unearth great new opportunities for neighbors to come together.

This is a low-stress, high-impact way to be involved, support your property values and to make Owen Brown an even greater place to live.

Being a Street Captain is a small commitment.  Everyone has a busy life, so we’ve designed this as a low-stress way to be involved.  Here’s an outline of what being a Street Captain entails: 

1.     You identify which street you’re willing to serve.  If more than one person volunteers for a street, we’ll divide the street up (and make it more manageable). 

2.     You take fliers (pre-printed by the Owen Brown Village Manager) identifying yourself as a Street Captain and then distribute them to your neighbors.  The flier will encourage them to give you an e-mail address to you so that you can pass along community news each month. 

3.     Throughout the year, when there is paper communication from the village, you’ll be the one to distribute it to the folks on your street (or section of your street).  The Observer, our village newsletter is one example.  Fliers for community events are another.  The need will be probably once a month. 

4.     At least once a month, I’ll e-mail all of the Street Captains with community news updates.  I’ll ask you to pass it along to anyone on the e-mail list you have for your street. 

5.     Quarterly get-togethers will be set up to allow Street Captains to meet and share ideas about improving the program, as well as to share feedback they’ve received from neighbors with a representative from the Village Board. 

And that’s it! 

If you’re interested in learning more, please contact obca@columbiavillages.org