The officer who arrested the Chantilly couple for allegedly trespassing in Cherry Hill on Saturday was recently pressured, along with other officers in her unit, to make more nuisance crime arrests, sources inside the police department told The Examiner.

Meanwhile, the head of the Baltimore City police union said Thursday that many officers have complained about being ordered to boost arrest numbers.

The commander of the housing authority police, Maj. Jessie Oden, allegedly demanded that his officers make more arrests during a roll call several weeks ago, telling officers that better numbers were needed, sources inside the department said.

But Oden, speaking through a Baltimore City police spokesman, said the story is “completely not true.”

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Oden is the commander of Natalie Preston, the housing authority officer who arrested Joshua Kelly 22, and Llara Brook, 20, accusing them of trespassing. The couple said that they were lost after an Orioles game and that Officer Preston arrested them after they stopped to ask her directions in Cherry Hill.

Preston’s report said Kelly was “argumentative” and refused to return her pen after receiving a ticket for failing to obey a stop sign.

Paul Blair, president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police, said he has received calls from officers across the city in the past two weeks complaining about pressure from commanders.

“I’m hearing from officers saying that pressure is being put on them to increase arrests,” Blair said. “Officers from all nine districts say that pressure is on to make better numbers.”

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said Oden did not pressure officers under his command.

“We have increased enforcement efforts in certain communities as a result of an increase in crime earlier this year,” he said, noting that “violent crime is down 11 percent citywide in the past two months.”

But Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for the State’s Attorney’s office, recently announced the number of arrests per day in May are up significantly from last month — from 165 per day in April to 218 per day from May 1 to 15.

Blair said the pressure on city officers gives them less flexibility to use their own judgment.

“If you’re being ordered to make arrests,” he said, “it doesn’t give the officer the option to use discretion.”

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com