Bealefeld Calls Off Overnight Retreat For Police Leaders

Baltimore police commanders have postponed plans for an $11,000 overnight retreat, saying the event would be a distraction as the department grapples with crime and budget woes.

Using money seized from suspected criminals, the department had planned an overnight training retreat at Leakin Park's Outward Bound center.

According to documents filed with the Board of Estimates, nearly 50 commanders would have participated in a program that included "use of low ropes activities, a combination of problem-solving games, and elements of the high ropes course."

The department has asked the police union for $5 million in concessions and is trimming overtime and take-home cars as the city looks to close a budget hole. In addition, Baltimore has recorded 16 killings in the first 16 days of September.

Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III postponed the retreat indefinitely, saying the retreat would be "too much of a distraction."

Robert F. Cherry, president of the police union, said it had not objected to the trip.

- Justin Fenton