I apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

I received the ticket at 10:00 PM on 27 November 2010, on the Anacostia Tributary Trail a few feet away from where it meets Lyndon Street. I entered the trail from Quebec Street off of New Hampshire Avenue. Both ends of the trail where I entered and exited are marked with signs in English and Spanish declaring the park closed after dark. The officer who issued the ticket, Patrol Officer Coe, Maryland National Capitol Park Police Department, of I assume the Prince George's County District, had blocked the trail with his patrol car and had me well lit by his high beams and his spot light as I came off the trail. During the stop, Officer Coe was professional, courteous, and as a formal police officer from another state, displayed better training then I received. Officer Coe stated that they were at the end of a period of extra patrols of the trails and made a reference to a Hyattsville trail being particularly dangerous. Investigating later I found a news article of a September 2010 shooting in Hyattsville so I assume the crack down was in response to it. He also stated I was in danger of being "*****, robbed and murdered" by using the trail after dark. As a fifty-one year old male I think my risk of sexual assault is minimal and consider the threat of being robbed and/or murdered pretty much equal on a trail or on a street in the D.C. area. After writing the ticket Officer Coe released me and I continued on to work.

The section of the trail where I was ticketed appears to have been built in the late 1980's. I'm not able to confirm it, but it appears to have been funded with an Environmental Protection Agency grant as part of the Chesapeake Bay clean up project. At least the trail was built during the same time period the property was set aside as the Anacostia Watershed.

I've since admitted my obvious guilt and paid this ticket, but, if possible, I'd like to be kept informed of efforts to open this and other trails for after dark use. Being restricted from the trail forces me to commute through the University Boulevard East/New Hampshire Avenue intersection and down University Boulevard toward the University of Maryland. Wikipedia at least considers the University/New Hampshire intersection the most dangerous in the state for pedestrians and I'd prefer an option to avoid it when possible. If there is anything I can do to support the intended legislation or anything else bicycle related please let me know. I'd be happy to help.


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