By RAZAK DIALLO
amendments, defines late-night businesses as establishments open between midnight and 4
a.m., with exemptions for health care facilities, lodging establishments, and potentially FedEx
Field.
Photo Credit: UNSPLASH
The Prince George’s County Council is considering a bill requiring businesses open between midnight and 4 a.m. to follow late-night safety plans that may require the presence of security personnel.
Councilmembers Wanika Fisher (District 2, which includes Hyattsville) and Krystal Oriadha (District 7) co-sponsored CB-016-2024, which aims to shift the responsibility of ensuring business safety away from law enforcement and towards businesses.
The summary of the bill provided by the county council states, “Since the business(es)’ commercial activity(ies) may, in part, be the cause of the increased safety concerns, it (i.e. business) should bear some of the responsibility for ensuring the safety of its patrons.”
“[The bill] creates that conversation between our police department and these businesses about what safety measures could look like,” Oriadha said in a May 28 county council meeting.
The bill, which is currently held in committee and undergoing amendments, defines late-night businesses as establishments open between midnight and 4 a.m., with exemptions for health care facilities, lodging establishments, and potentially FedEx Field, according to co-sponsor Fisher.
The bill also requests that relevant departments (Permitting and Inspections, Enforcement, Health, and the Board of License Commissioners) develop a system for creating priority areas that the county determines based on crime levels, emergency call rate and other factors.
The current draft instructs departments to establish the minimum requirements of a late-night safety plan. The bill lists an emergency evacuation plan, 24-hour contact information for the business owner or manager, and an acknowledgment that the business received late-night business training from the county, as requirements that have to be included in the plan.
Moreover, as the departments develop the minimum requirements of the plan (which include those listed above) they may, with written justification, require businesses to have exterior lighting, high-definition security cameras, and security personnel on the premises during late-night hours. Businesses may also be recommended, but not required, to search patrons using metal detectors, magnetometers, or pat downs, or provide video recordings to relevant departments.
Businesses face fines of up to $1,000 every day the plan is not filed or properly implemented.
According to Fisher, the draft plan encourages the county to implement a grant program for businesses to adopt the requirements, but it does not guarantee funds for the program.
When questioned about the potential financial burden on businesses due to the new bill, Fisher compared it to how Prince George’s County residents invest in their home security, stating that businesses will similarly need to allocate funds to ensure safety in their areas.
Speakers during the May council meeting cited the bill’s similarity to a 2013 bill, CB-48-2013, passed by the council, which aimed to increase safety at convenience stores and gas stations.
The 2013 law, which specifically targets convenience stores open between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., includes requirements for employee safety training and a surveillance system.
Mike O’Halloran, a Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association representative who opposed the bill at the May council meeting, expressed concern over passing the current safety bill on top of the 2013 law.
“This new bill is very duplicative,” O’Halloran said. ”It may require our locations to hire security personnel at an added cost to those locations, in addition to the compliance cost that we already incur from this 2013 law.”
A Montgomery County law (14-23), passed in 2023, has a similar aim and execution to the Prince George’s bill, with the chief difference being the time window for which a business is considered a late-night business. Montgomery County considers late-night businesses to be those operating between midnight and 6 a.m.
Razak Diallo is an undergraduate journalism student at the University of Maryland.
