Police and city officials plan to welcome students back to College Park on Thursday in a new downtown event organized to improve student-police relations and boost awareness of public-safety issues.

The event, scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of City Hall on Knox Road, will include live music, $4,000 in gift certificate giveaways, and public-safety demonstrations with beer goggles and golf carts, organizers said.

Although it is being pitched as a welcome for students, organizers hope the event will go beyond entertaining students and will help rebuild a relationship with the police, said Prince George's County Police District 1 Commander Maj. Robert Liberati, who formed the committee that organized the event.

Many students' view of the police was tainted by the response to the riots that followed a March 3 Duke men's basketball game, in which officers were accused of brutality and several were recorded beating a student. Liberati said that is not the impression he wants the student body to have of his force.

"The idea is we want to get students, police departments and all these stakeholders together to see us differently than that one night in March," Liberati said.

Although University Police Capt. Marc Limansky acknowledged the welcome event was being used to rebuild relations with students, he hopes students take more from the event.

"If they see it as just a reaction [to the riots], it's selling this a little short," he said.

Limansky stressed the importance of students and police interacting, mingling, shaking hands and openly expressing questions and concerns both groups might have.

"What makes more sense than working with county police in a city filled with students?" Limansky said.

Furthermore, he said police want to remind students about their interactions with city residents.

"It's important to let [students] know there's more to College Park. There is a community that exists outside the university," Limansky said.

College Park District 4 Councilman Marcus Afzali said the city is involved with the event because it also wants to create a safer, more cooperative community.

"The city has a vested interest in the university being as safe as possible," Afzali said, "We do have public safety issues on campus."

Afzali recommended students attend the event not only for the entertainment and education, but also for the opportunity to talk with police and government officials and share their viewpoints on various issues.

Senior finance major Mike Wollins said he thought the event might help foster better relationships between students and police — whom he described as "a little intrusive and over the top" and "kind of rude sometimes" — but doubted students would actually attend.

However, senior studio art major Sonya Elefante said students might attend the event if it was well advertised though it probably wouldn't do much to improve student-police relations.

"It probably won't really change that there's a video of riot police beating a kid," Elefante said.

Junior mechanical engineering major Drew Levan said the riots caused relations between students and police to become "real intense, real fast," catching the community off guard. He wasn't sure if the event would be successful but said it had potential.

The entertainment for the event will be co-hosted by WMUC Radio and will feature the Prince George's County Police Department's jazz band, appearances by Terrapin men's basketball coach Gary Williams andfootball coach Ralph Friedgen and performances from the Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band and the university's competitive cheer team.

mccarty at umdbk dot com