Police Chief

Every taxpayer, regardless of age, economic status or political affiliation, agrees that, if government does nothing else, it must protect the public safety. Everybody wants top-notch police protection. So Anne Arundel County Executive John G. Gary's recent appointment of Acting Chief Robert A. Beck as head of the police department may be the most important hire he ever makes.Time will tell, of course, but it looks as if Mr. Gary has made a good choice. Chief Beck's quiet demeanor may not be the stuff of TV police dramas, but his credentials are solid: 27 years of law enforcement experience; management experience; a pending master's degree from a police program at Johns Hopkins University; a good reputation.

Anne Arundel County is without an official police chief following Tuesday's formal retirement of Chief Larry Tolliver. This month Tolliver announced he was stepping down effective May 22, and County Executive Laura Neuman has not named a permanent or interim chief to replace him. Deputy Chief Pam Davis is handling day-to-day affairs for the department, said department spokesman Justin Mulcahy. Davis routinely fills in when the chief is traveling or on vacation. Though Tolliver's last official day was Tuesday, he has not been at police headquarters in Millersville since May 10, when a few dozen staffers threw him a farewell party, Mulcahy said.

Aberdeen Police Chief John R. Jolley, who withstood investigations, political pressure and legal battles over the past 18 months, has resigned, city officials said yesterday.The resignation is effective Jan. 2, City Manager Peter A. Dacey wrote in a three-paragraph statement.Chief Jolley, 55, has commanded the 35-member department since 1989.Reached by telephone, he said he had decided to move on when his latest legal battle, a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him by his former secretary, had ended.

The shooting of Kendra Diggs and the subsequent barricade by her alleged attacker presented a challenge Tuesday for police and emergency responders. Under the threat of further gunfire from the off-duty Baltimore police officer, officials said, they were unable to render medical aid to the dying woman. "When you have a person who is down … what we're trained on is that you don't jeopardize six or seven police officers in your emotional reaction to save that person," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in an interview Wednesday.

Anne Arundel County is without an official police chief following Tuesday's formal retirement of Chief Larry Tolliver. This month Tolliver announced he was stepping down effective May 22, and County Executive Laura Neuman has not named a permanent or interim chief to replace him. Deputy Chief Pam Davis is handling day-to-day affairs for the department, said department spokesman Justin Mulcahy. Davis routinely fills in when the chief is traveling or on vacation. Though Tolliver's last official day was Tuesday, he has not been at police headquarters in Millersville since May 10, when a few dozen staffers threw him a farewell party, Mulcahy said.

Thomas C. Frazier -- the no-nonsense, forward-thinking administrator named yesterday to be Baltimore's new police commissioner -- promised no quick solutions to the city's drug and murder problems but pledged to be "highly visible" to both residents and police officers."

A federal judge upheld yesterday the firing of Smithsburg's police chief, whose dismissal in August sparked protests in the small Washington County community.Judge Benson E. Legg in Baltimore's U.S. District Court told lawyers for the town and former Chief Thomas Bowers that state laws gave Mayor Mildred Myers authority to fire Bowers, ending his three-year tenure.Legg also ruled that Bowers was not denied his right to due process.Myers and the town council, which approved the action, said they fired Bowers for failing to investigate complaints, meet with the mayor and file timely reports.

Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens made one of the most important appointments of her four months in office yesterday when she named a 26-year police veteran the county's new chief.P. Thomas Shanahan, 45, who has been acting police chief since Owens took office, has worked for the county since he was a teen-ager and has demonstrated strong leadership skills, Owens said.Shanahan, who started working at the department as a cadet at age 19, earned a master's degree in applied behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins University in 1996 and has been deputy chief, patrol captain and sergeant in the homicide unit.

County Executive Robert Neall yesterday appointed Deputy Police Chief Robert Russell as acting chief, while officials conduct a nationwide search for a replacement for outgoing Chief George Wellham III.Neall also appointed Paul C. Halgley, a deputy fire chief, as acting fire administrator. Former Fire Administrator Joseph M. Connell retired last week.Russell, who has been on the department for almost 25 years, willserve as chief for an indefinite period, said Neall spokeswoman Louise Hayman.

Harold M. "Hal" Robbins Jr., Annapolis' police chief since October 1990, has resigned abruptly, leaving his deputy as the likely successor to head the 123-member department.Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins said yesterday that the chief submitted a letter of resignation Friday stating he wanted to "pursue other interests." But the mayor said the decision that the chief should go was "mutual."The chief notified his officers of his departure by posting a note on a bulletin board. Yesterday he was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

After less than a year on the job, Larry Tolliver is calling it quits as chief of the troubled Anne Arundel County Police Department. Tolliver, 67, said his resignation — or "return to retirement," as he called it — will take effect May 21. "I am resigning today because the department needs a chief who can focus solely on the department's mission, something that is challenging to do in the current environment," Tolliver wrote in a statement...

While former Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold works in a food bank to satisfy the community service requirement of his sentence for misconduct in office, accusations stemming from his legal troubles are reaching another former county official. The ACLU of Maryland said Tuesday that it would seek to add former county Police Chief James Teare Sr. to its civil lawsuit against Leopold and the county. The rights group said a recorded interview between a police officer and a supervisor suggests Teare was involved in Leopold's use of his security detail to create dossiers on political enemies.

Baltimore County Councilman Todd Huff pleaded guilty Thursday to driving under the influence, telling a judge that he's learned from the February incident and is in treatment for alcohol abuse. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Timothy Martin said he needed time to think about the case before sentencing Huff. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped charges of negligent driving and a headlight violation. Huff, 44, told Martin that his arrest has been difficult for him as a person in the public eye. He said he wanted to apologize to his family, colleagues and constituents.

A line of cars snaked around the government office parking lot, down Bendix Road and for up to half a mile along Route 108 in the late morning and the afternoon, as people waited for hours to trade in guns to Howard County police for crisp $100 bills. At the end of the day police had recovered 631 guns and at 2:30 had to start turning cars away, officials said. The last time they tried a similar effort in 1995, the total number of guns collected was three. "We didn't know what to expect," said Chief William McMahon, but officials were pleased with the turnout.

Michael Kundrat, a Carroll County native and 26-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, has been named chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. Kundrat, 53, who has been acting MdTA chief for 18 months, was selected from a field of 29 candidates for the post, which he assumed Friday. MdTA Police are responsible for law enforcement at tolled highways, tunnels and bridges, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and the Port of Baltimore. Kundrat grew up in Westminster and joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1980, working as a patrol officer and later a section commander.

Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson added a much-needed voice of reason to the national debate over gun control last week when he appeared before Congress to testify in favor of universal background checks for gun purchases and a ban on assault rifles and large capacity ammunition magazines. It was only common sense, he told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, to extend the reporting requirements for federally licensed firearms dealers to the private individuals who account for 40 percent of gun sales in this country.

Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker has officially appointed Wayne Livesay as chief of police.Livesay, a 26-year department veteran, had been acting chief since January, when Police Chief James N. Robey retired to run for county executive. Robey, who won the election and will succeed Ecker on Monday, agreed with Ecker's choice, which was made last week.In a statement, Livesay said he felt "honored to be able to continue serving as chief" and is "committed to providing professional law enforcement services to our citizens through highly trained and dedicated employees."

Manchester has hired a police chief who will begin duty next month, according to Mayor Christopher B. D'Amario. After interviewing several candidates, the mayor recommended Charles Lewis, 46, who lives near Easton in Talbot County and is a deputy sheriff there. Lewis' 16-year career in law enforcement has included service as police chief in the town of Ridgely in Caroline County from 1998 to1999, 6 1/2 years as a town officer in St. Michaels, where he was a sergeant, and 2 1/2 as a detective for the Wicomico County sheriff.

Speaking at an emotional hearing on federal gun control proposals, Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson urged lawmakers Wednesday to close loopholes and ban assault weapon sales or risk more tragedies like the recent elementary school shooting in Connecticut. Johnson, wearing his uniform, spent nearly four hours offering law enforcement's case for tighter gun laws, confronting a well-known witness - National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre - and noting the proliferation of guns sometimes makes police work "creepy.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Friday that his officers' rushed review of speed camera tickets has produced "unacceptable" mistakes and pledged "dramatic" reform of the system, including increased staffing. "To be perfectly honest, we've made some mistakes that we shouldn't have been making in reviewing citations," Batts said in his first public comments since The Baltimore Sun found Baltimore's speed cameras have been issuing erroneous citations. "I've sat down and gone through the process, and we're making some dramatic changes.