Local Police

— A high-profile meeting of world leaders at Camp David drew only sparse protests Friday despite extensive security preparations by local officials. Frederick County closed public schools Friday and police said they felt obligated to "prepare for the worst," but ultimately only about 50 Occupy movement participants showed at a "People's Summit" held in a library in advance of the Group of Eight industrialized nations meeting. By midday, fewer than half a dozen people picketed sidewalks in nearby Thurmont.

— A high-profile meeting of world leaders at Camp David drew only sparse protests Friday despite extensive security preparations by local officials. Frederick County closed public schools Friday and police said they felt obligated to "prepare for the worst," but ultimately only about 50 Occupy movement participants showed at a "People's Summit" held in a library in advance of the Group of Eight industrialized nations meeting. By midday, fewer than half a dozen people picketed sidewalks in nearby Thurmont.

Carroll officials plan to discuss today a proposal between the county and local police agencies that could augment injury and liability coverage for officers who might perform duties outside municipal limits.Officers in five of the county's eight municipalities frequently are asked to help state or area police agencies outside town limits. Under such circumstances, the officers are covered under the state's mutual aid agreement, but some have questioned if that coverage is sufficient.Details of the proposal were not available yesterday.

In a standoff that might require delicate diplomacy to resolve, officials in Western Maryland are pressing the federal government to reconsider its refusal to help pay for local security costs for this week's G-8 summit at Camp David. Local police say they are ready for expected protests of the Group of Eight industrialized nations gathering that begins Friday and ends Saturday night — the highest-profile event held at the presidential retreat in years — but they are not eager to pick up the tab. They say overtime and equipment could cost tens of thousands of dollars — a big hit to small-town budgets.

Most Baltimore police officers rely on city maps to help pinpoint crime spikes and deploy the troops to tamp down violence. But Baltimore Police Lt. David Engel has a different kind of map hanging on his office wall -- one of the world. The map reflects the mission assigned to Engel, commander of the city intelligence unit, and his 36 detectives. Working closely with federal agents specializing in national security, the city's intelligence team tracks global flare-ups of terrorist activity, scans the Internet and pumps informants for tips about potential threats.

If you are an illegal immigrant in Maryland and you call police to report a crime, what happens next is a matter of location. In Howard County, police will not ask how you arrived in the country unless they find that you have broken a law. But if a state trooper shows up at your door and suspects that you are in the United States illegally, you will probably be reported to the federal government. "Any time we come in contact with somebody [and] we're concerned about documentation, we contact the authorities," said Lt. Bud Frank, a Maryland State Police spokesman.

Spurred by two recent operations against major heroin, cocaine and marijuana networks in Carroll County, state and local police said yesterday that they plan a town meeting to bring together parents, students and community leaders to develop a strategy to stem drug abuse.State police and the Carroll County Chiefs of Police Association will co-sponsor a Forum Against Drug Trafficking (FAST) on Dec. 18 at Westminster High School to address concerns about drugs in the community. The program could serve as a model for community and law enforcement leaders across the state, said 1st. Sgt. Chester Miller, a spokesman for the office of policy and strategy at state police headquarters in Pikesville.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening said yesterday that his budget proposal for the state police would boost the number of new troopers -- and, in turn, beef up units to fight illegal gun trafficking, computer crime and auto theft.Glendening, who had previously said he would include a 10 percent raise for state troopers in the budget submitted to legislators next month, outlined his priorities for troopers at a swearing-in ceremony for 55 graduates of the agency's training academy. Under his proposal, 75 trooper candidates would enter the academy next month, and another class of 75 would enter in July.

WASHINGTON -- For five years, the National Rifle Association and its allies have successfully lobbied Congress to limit the ability of local police to access federal gun trace data. Now, by moving to remove those limits and increase the ability of local officers to track so-called crime guns, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is venturing into what is rapidly emerging as the latest battlefield in the war over gun rights. A provision first approved in 2003, when Republicans controlled Congress, sets tight controls on how the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may share its gun data with local police departments.

Along with the standard police equipment such as guns and radios, patrol officers don't leave the Essex Precinct without teddy bears.Thanks to the Sunday Calico Quilters of Essex, a group of women ages 16 to 82, the police have the bears to comfort children they find caught up in traumatic situations."

An unidentified body was pulled from the bay in Ocean City at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to local police and the Coast Guard. Police did not provide the age, sex or identity of the body late Tuesday, pending the notification of relatives. Ocean City police responded to the area of 32nd Street on Isle of Wight Bay at about 6:20 p.m. for a report of a possible dead body, police said. They then requested assistance from the Ocean City Coast Guard, according to Petty Officer Alonzo Curry, a Coast Guard spokesman.

An article in the Nov. 30, 1961 edition of the Herald Argus and Baltimore Countian reported that a thief left a trail that led to his arrest. Footprints in last week's snow led police six blocks to a 44-year-old man who was apprehended for the theft of articles motorists complained had been removed from their cars. The man, who gave a Baltimore address, was identified as F.A. Fry and was charged with being a rogue and vagabond. Magistrate Donald D. Scholosser of the local police court sentenced him to one year in the Maryland House of Correction for the thefts from autos.

WESTMINSTER - Carroll County law enforcement officials will team up with Dunkin' Donuts this week - but it has nothing to do with a doughnut delivery for officers. Local police will join with law enforcement colleagues across Maryland for the second annual Cops on Rooftops event in Westminster, raising money for Maryland Special Olympics. Maryland State Police Lt. Jim DeWees and Westminster Police Chief Jeff Spaulding will sit on the rooftop of the Westminster Dunkin' Donuts, at 576 Jermor Lane (140 Shopping Center)

Corinne Young's son was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old. But even after his years of consistent therapy and in-home support, she fears he might one day wander away and not return. "I think that's every parent's nightmare whose child is autistic," Young said. "They're vulnerable, they're very easy prey. " Her son, Garret Young, now 18, has wandered off before, once finding his way into the creek on a vacant 27-acre farm when the family lived in New Jersey. Recently, he wandered away and was found hiding behind patio furniture at a local department store when he was out shopping with his mother.

A video of a vicious beating at a Baltimore County McDonald's restaurant went viral Friday, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on websites and prompting the fast-food giant to issue a statement condemning the incident. The video shows two women — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching the 22-year-old victim in the head, as an employee of the Rosedale restaurant and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by. Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim's head, and she appears to have a seizure.

A 25-year-old man was found shot in the hand Sunday afternoon near the Penn North subway station, Baltimore City police said. Police spokesman Jeremy Silbert said the unidentified victim was taken to a local hospital. He said the incident occurred in the 1800 block of Presstman St., though it had initially been reported as North Avenue and Woodyear Street.

Daniel Davis could have been a lawyer or a businessman backed by an Ivy League diploma. Instead, he chose police work.Davis, 53, retired as a lieutenant last month after 26 years with the Howard County police.A quarter-century ago, his choice of careers caused his friends' jaws to drop."A few people have questioned me over the years about my particular career choice after going to Cornell," Davis said. "But I decided to throw my lot with the local police."Colleagues say his work ethic and high expectations resulted in key programs in the department, from a 1970s burglary-prevention project whose major initiatives are still in force today to the Auxiliary Police Force begun in 1995.

A video of a vicious beating at a Baltimore County McDonald's restaurant went viral Friday, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on websites and prompting the fast-food giant to issue a statement condemning the incident. The video shows two women — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching the 22-year-old victim in the head, as an employee of the Rosedale restaurant and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by. Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim's head, and she appears to have a seizure.

I am writing to comment on your recent article ("Prosecutors: Inquiry into dog park shooting may take another week," Aug. 17) because in many ways it parallels a similar incident in which I was involved on January 16, 2009. I am appalled at what happened. There are always alternatives to murdering someone's pet. Also, a police officer who is trained to deal with difficult situations should be held to a higher standard. I am concerned that the investigating police force will "whitewash" the shooter's actions.

This month in Washtenaw County, Mich., a right-wing militia called the Hutaree was raided by state and local police and FBI agents. Nine militia members were arrested and charged with conspiring to murder a police officer then attack that officer's funeral with improvised explosive devices. This was to be the first step in the Hutaree's plot to overthrow the U.S. government. The Hutaree is only one among a number of separatist, terrorist and hate groups that view police as their No. 1 target for attack.