Police Commander

Timothy J. Longo Sr. once commanded a single Baltimore police district that was larger, more populated and more dangerous than the entire Virginia city he now serves as police chief. But now, the grandson of an immigrant from Sicily, who spent nearly two decades quickly rising through the turbulent ranks of the city police department before leaving in 2000, is at the center of a crime garnering national attention. Longo has been in front of the cameras in Charlottesville, answering questions about the slaying of a University of Virginia lacrosse player from Cockeysville, a compelling story of broken romance, sports and affluence that has rocked a prestigious university near Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

I f it is true, as Napoleon said, that an army moves on its stomach, then some Army reservists at Fort Meade will soon be soldiering in style. Sgt. 1st Class James Duff, a food service specialist with the 200th Military Police Command, will be reporting for duty at Fort Meade this month. This is the mess-hall equivalent, I gather, of having Maryland sharpshooter Greivis Vasquez show up on your pickup basketball team. Duff is on a roll. Last week he managed a team of 12 that picked up a potful of medals - four gold, 11 silver and seven bronze - at the U.S. Army's Culinary Arts Competition at Fort Lee, Va. They finished fifth in a field of 12 teams.

The commander of the Baltimore Police Department's Southeastern District, who was suspended last month as internal investigators examined his office computer, has been demoted and will return to patrol, police said. Maj. Roger Bergeron, an 18-year veteran who oversaw the district for nearly three years, accepted a demotion to the rank of lieutenant and will return to a yet-to-be-determined patrol district effective Sunday, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.

The Baltimore Police Department formalized a key command appointments yesterday, a week after Mayor Sheila Dixon named Frederick H. Bealefeld III the city's new commissioner. Anthony E. Barksdale, the acting deputy commissioner of operations, will be placed permanently in that position. Deborah A. Owens, the acting deputy commissioner of the department's administrative bureau, was also placed in her position permanently. "When he was asked to take over as acting commissioner, [Bealefeld]

Baltimore's police union is suing the city and its retirement system over a questionable pension awarded to a top city police commander who retired and took a job with a state police agency. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore Circuit Court, demands that Marcus L. Brown's pension be revoked and that he repay the money that has already been given to him. City Solicitor George Nilson said his office had reviewed the matter two months ago and concluded Brown's pension was awarded legally. "I'm fairly confident that we'll defend the action taken and that we'll be right," he said.

City police commander's kin admits 3 robberies Elmer H. Warfield, the brother of a city police commander, pleaded guilty in Circuit Court yesterday to robbing three banks in Baltimore. Warfield, 37, was arrested March 19 after a chase through the city's downtown. Police caught him while responding to a 9 a.m. call for a robbery at Carrollton Bank on North Charles street. Police said that $1,308 was stolen, and Elmer Warfield pleaded guilty to robbing that bank yesterday, according to court papers.

JERUSALEM -- Israel's police commander resigned yesterday after a government commission said he ignored ties between senior officers and underworld figures and failed to ensure a thorough investigation into the 1999 killing of a suspected crime boss. The resignation of Moshe Karadi was the latest in a series of public scandals and controversies involving Israel's top leadership - including rape allegations against the president and questions over the prime minister's role in a bank sale.

James Sebastian Michael DiPino a retired Baltimore police captain and former Southwestern District commander, died of pneumonia Monday at Oak Crest Village in Parkville. He was 95. Captain DiPino was born in Baltimore and raised on Albermarle Street in Little Italy. He attended parochial schools and later dropped out of high school to help support his family. He earned his General Educational Development certificate, drove a taxi and was a security guard at the General Motors plant on Broening Highway before he joined the city police in 1942.

Police commander launches campaign for county executive Clarence W. Bell Jr. launched his campaign for Baltimore County executive yesterday, standing with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. at a rally in Pikesville and repeatedly telling supporters, "We can do better." Bell, a state police commander who has never run for elected office, is one of two Republicans seeking the Republican nomination for county executive. Incumbent James T. Smith Jr., a Democrat, is running for a second term. Bell talked about the need for leaders to address school crowding and what he called "uncontrolled" growth.

Baltimore police officials have reassigned the commander of the Northern District station and announced the retirement of the head of the homicide unit as the agency grapples with a burgeoning crime and homicide rate during the first four months of the year. Maj. Steven Lukasik, who ran the Northern District for more than a year, faced the greatest shortage of patrol officers in comparison to the city's eight other districts, which are all down officers. The shortage is due, in part, to a challenging labor market in which recruits are in short supply, police say. The department's chief spokesman, Matt Jablow, said the staff changes were made in part because of the need to fill slots vacated by retiring officers.