County Police Force

At least one member of the Carroll County Police Force Study Committee has doubts about recommending that the commissioners immediately embark on a program to develop a countywide police force.Carroll County State's Attorney Thomas E. Hickman said it would be much more efficient for the county to rely on the 43 residentstate troopers as long as it can rather than develop its own police force."I have heard that the Maryland State Police have said, 'As long as Carroll County pays the bill, we'll supply the troopers,'" said Hickman at the study committee's Wednesday meeting.

Normally a mild-mannered state police lieutenant by day, Democratic sheriff's candidate Ken Tregoning was anything but last night as he vigorously attacked the record of his opponent, Republican incumbent John H. Brown.But, in keeping with a promise he made early in the campaign, Sheriff Brown barely acknowledged the criticism during a 25-minute exchange of views at a League of Women Voters forum in Westminster."I've set clear-cut goals, demanded accountability and I've gotten proven results," the sheriff said after a blistering opening remark by his challenger.

Democrat Robert E. Comes coasted to victory in Tuesday's race for county sheriff, trouncing incumbent Dominick J. Mele's write-in campaign to allow him to keep his job.In the general election, Comes received 34,381 votes, or 74 percent.There were 4,689 write-in votes, but how many of those Mele got will not be determined until this week.Comes, 58, of Churchville, will assume the $52,000-a-year sheriff's job at the 260-member department on Dec. 3.Following his victory, Comes reflected on the campaign and outlined some of his plans for the Sheriff's Department during an interview.

25 years ago (week of Feb. 20-26, 1972):Residents of the western part of the county expressed concern that they were not being adequately protected by the county police force. Crimes such as burglary had increased noticeably in the past two years. The residents were asking for police protection at a ratio of one officer per 1,000 residents.Plans were announced for a group home for youthful drug addicts to be opened somewhere in the county. The facility would provide shelter for up to 30 residents, who would be held to a program of abstinence from drugs while they received behavior modification therapy and vocational skills training.

County Commissioners should hire a planner to begin work on assembling a county police force, the Carroll County Police Study Committee has recommended.In its final meeting last night, the study committee also said the county should develop a law enforcement master plan that would improve the coordination among the county's municipal law enforcement agencies.The five previous reports on forming a county police force "weren't as credible as this," said committee member and District Judge Donald Smith.

Electing a sheriff is only half the task facing Harford voters this fall. They must also decide whether law enforcement duties should stay with that office or shift to a county police force under an appointed chief; a charter amendment question on that issue will be on the November ballot.Incumbent Robert E. Comes and three challengers are vying for the Democratic nomination in Tuesday's primary. Joseph Meadows, an assistant state's attorney, is unopposed in the Republican primary.The move to remove the sheriff's police responsibilities resulted from the 1992 suspicious death of inmate William Ford in the detention center, which is also under the sheriff.

Within 10 days Harford residents can expect to learn the results of the county executive's study on shifting much of the authority of the Sheriff's Office to a countywide police agency.County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann set that time frame Wednesday during the last of four open meetings she has held since May 13 on public safety issues.In those meetings, Mrs. Rehrmann has told about 150 selected guests and county residents that the basis for her plan to strip most law enforcement duties from the sheriff is a 3 1/2 -year-old study that recommended creating a county police force headed by a police chief.

More than two dozen political hopefuls came to Candidates' Night at the First District Democratic Club in Edgewood Monday to introduce themselves to the Democratic masses. But the masses stayed home.The 18 candidates, some accompanied by spouses and campaign workers, outnumbered club members and interested citizens by a ratio of nearly 3-to-1.Although the meeting was sparsely attended, the candidates' remarks indicated that they regard the economic health of the county, the coming referendum on a county police force and managed growth as major issues in the coming election.

The first employees of a new county police force would be hired by July 1, 1993, if Carroll's commissioners agree with a plan presented Wednesday to the committee studying the issue.But the first hiringcould also be delayed if the county's Resident Trooper Program continues, the committee indicated at its Wednesday meeting."We want to see some state commitment for the Resident Trooper Program," said Morris Krome, a retired state police major who chairs the committee."We don't want to see it continue in limbo as it is now."

As the state budget crisis of 1991 continues into 1992, Carroll residents join the rest of Maryland in holding their collective breaths at proposed budget cuts.Chief among the worries: Will the state police budget be cut and, if so, where?The budget crisis has awakened many county and municipal governments around the state to the dilemma of state funding for police protection.While Maryland's larger counties and most municipalities have their own departments, several counties, including Carroll, do nothave a county-funded police department.