Police Department

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake needs to do some serious soul searching. In the past four months she has sounded more like a despot than a democratically elected mayor. How can she refuse to pay damages to lead paint victims, renege on a $150,000 payment the city agreed to pay to settle a lawsuit against the police department, or allow the Department of Public Works to make excuses for not collecting millions in unpaid water bills? Her house is not in order. She has lost sight of one of her signature initiatives - enticing 10,000 more families to live in the city.

Depositions given under oath by Anne Arundel County police officers said County Executive John R. Leopold personally ordered the firing of a county employee who had complained about his conduct. The depositions were filed in U.S. District Court Thursday as part of Karla Hamner's harassment lawsuit against the county. Officers said Leopold told then-County Police Chief James Teare Sr. that the woman was being transferred to the police department but was not to be given a permanent job. "[Leopold]

Gunfire in Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood late Monday has left one man dead and another wounded. It's the first fatal shooting in Cherry Hill since December, which has historically been one of the city's most violent neighborhoods and where four people were killed last year. The victims were walking in the 2700 block of Giles Rd about 11:30 p.m., when unknown suspects approached them and began firing weapons. A 28-year-old man, identified as Anthony Cureton, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m., according to Det. Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman.

Anne Arundel County's beleaguered police force will be commanded by a former Maryland State Police superintendent and political survivor who has led the county department once before. Larry W. Tolliver will take over as chief on Tuesday, more than a dozen years after he last supervised Anne Arundel police and three weeks after current Chief James Teare Sr. decided to retire amid a criminal investigation. Tolliver, 66, ascended to several top positions from a job as former Gov. William Donald Schaefer's security officer.

When Baltimore first installed crime cameras in 2005, they numbered fewer than 200 and were largely confined to high-crime areas. Two mayors later, the number of cameras in the city's police surveillance system has quadrupled. Baltimore owns 583 and has access to feeds from more than 250 installed by various businesses. Now that system is likely to become much larger. The city's Board of Estimates agreed last week to create a database that will make it easier for businesses to give the Police Department access to their private security cameras.

Two corporals made sergeant this week in the Anne Arundel County Police Department, fewer than expected after the agency had to rescind three planned promotions shortly after all five were told they earned the higher rank. “The personnel office made an honest mistake and moved quickly to correct it within 24 hours,” said county spokesman Dave Abrams. “Of course, the individuals affected were contacted and received a deserved apology from [the personnel officer].” He said the mistake came about due to differing promotion processes within the police department.

Baltimore officials approved Wednesday an expansion of the Police Department's camera system that will give officers quick access to private security cameras at businesses and homes that choose to be part of the effort. The new program, funded by a $53,200 grant from the Abell Foundation, will create a single database of public and private camera systems, which the mayor's office says will allow police to solve crimes faster. Residents and business owners will be able to opt into the program by registering their security cameras with the Mayor's Office of Information Technology through a Web application, city officials said.

The Baltimore City Fire Department plans to implement new social media guidelines after Chief James S. Clack said he found that firefighters and officers were "crossing the line" by posting inappropriate or sensitive information online. The social media website Twitter has become a forum for griping about City Hall policies in 140 characters or fewer - the maximum allowed in postings. The new policy comes after fire personnel have written a number of heated, politically charged barbs aimed at the department, Clack, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the City Council over a recent budgetary decision to close three fire companies in the city.

The Aberdeen Police Department and the Harford County Municipal Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 128 collaborated to buy four new Smith and Wesson police mountain patrol bicycles for city police. The FOP offered to purchase two bicycles if the police department matched its purchase. All members of the bicycle patrol group are trained and certified by the International Police Mountain Bike Association. They are patrolling on all shifts and can be seen throughout the city. Officers on bike patrol handle a variety of calls for service and enforce all local and state laws while their high visibility provides for a safer environment.

Anne Arundel County police released hundreds of documents this week regarding media inquiries on topics as broad as gang investigations, cold cases and school shootings, but none of those are any use to the group looking into allegations against County Executive John R. Leopold, ACLU officials said. In response to a public information request made by the American Civil Liberties Union and area newspapers, police provided reams of documents detailing how the police department interacts with the media - but little information about Leopold and an "enemies" list the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland alleges he kept.