Dixon's security detail still deemed a priority despite blizzard

With the city in an all-hands-on-deck mode during the third powerful winter storm of the season, the Baltimore Police Department is keeping a patrol officer on a security detail outside former Mayor Sheila Dixon's Southwest Baltimore home.

A patrol car with its lights flashing could be seen outside of the home of Dixon, who resigned Feb. 4 after accepting a plea agreement calling for her to step down and pay $45,000 to charity while keeping her pension.

Police said such security details are an "operational priority" and that Dixon's remains as part of an indefinite transition phase. But the police union questioned whether that use of resources was appropriate, and a law enforcement source said officers have recently been asking when the detail will end.

Patrol cars are stationed every day and around the clock outside the homes of the mayor and police commissioner, and the officers are pulled from the patrol districts where the officials live. Because Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and Dixon both live in the Southwest District, an officer from the Southern District takes one of those details to spread the burden.

"Given the circumstances of the former mayor, there are some security concerns that we have to take into consideration," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman.

Wednesday's blizzard sent the city into "Phase III," meaning only authorized emergency vehicles were allowed on city roads. Guglielmi said that having the officers stationed outside of officials' homes was not hurting the department's ability to respond to emergency calls.

"Officers are in fixed positions now anyway, sitting at posts basically responding to Level 1 [priority] emergencies," he said. "We're completely up to staff."

Robert F. Cherry, president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police lodge, said Dixon's detail "should stop immediately" regardless of the weather. He questioned the idea of the detail in light of the city's budget constraints.

"Given the current economic conditions and the fact that there are people across the city that need police, Mayor Rawlings-Blake said we need all hands on deck," Cherry said. "We do not need a cop at Mayor Dixon's house, nor [Rawlings-Blake's] or Police Commissioner Bealfeld's.

"But given the circumstances of the snowstorm and the economy, pulling these security details — particularly the one with Dixon — and putting them into the rotation until this snow abates makes sense," Cherry said.

Former mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said that the detail outside his home continued for "a couple of weeks" after he left office. And shortly after the officer left the neighborhood, his home was broken into and someone stole his wife's jewelry, he said.

"Unfortunately it's one of those things that's necessary, because we do have people from time to time asking for the mayor, asking to see the mayor," he said. "Most of the time its legitimate, but sometimes its someone you need some protection from."

Schmoke said the detail should be phased out. "If this were a couple of months from now, people would probably have some legitimate concerns. But it shouldn't be abrupt."

He noted that his neighbors cared much more about the fixed patrol car leaving the neighborhood than he did.

"I had one neighbor who said he disagreed with me politically but as long as we kept the car in front, he would vote for me," he said.