Police Officer

Who was that affable older gentleman who was asked to show his identification in order to enter the State House Monday? It was Paul S. Sarbanes, the longest-serving United States senator in Maryland history. Sarbanes, who retired in 2007 after 30 years in the Senate, was in Annapolis for a meeting of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, on which he serves. After that meeting, he went to the State House to view an historical exhibit on the war, where he cheerfully complied with a request to show his ID -- smiling at a reporter's offer to vouch for him. The police officer couldn't be faulted for not recognizing the former senator.

Reservoir junior Zelor Massaquoi admits to being only 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall, but she can outmaneuver much taller opponents and leads the Howard County girls basketball league in rebounding. Her tenacity emerges all over the court as she averages 12.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.9 steals for the No. 13 Gators (16-3), who open the Class 3A East regional playoffs Monday night at home. Massaquoi, who plays Amateur Athletic Union basketball with the Columbia Ravens, wants to play the sport in college.

An article in the Feb. 22, 1913, edition of The Argus the return of an unwanted visitor. The dog poisoner who has been causing considerable alarm among the owners of valuable canines in Catonsville for some time is again at work. The pretty collie dog of Patrolman August Peters , living on Mellor avenue, was found Thursday morning the victim of poison in her master's yard. The dog was considered the prettiest of its kind in this part of Baltimore county. ***** After keeping their wedding a secret for eight months, Miss Ethel Dykes , of Oella, daughter of James Dykes, and Benjamin Peters , eldest son of Patrolman August Peters , announced to their friends several days ago their wedding which took place in Wilmington, Del., on June 19 last.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced an across-the-board review of how city officers use weapons after the accidental shooting of a trainee during exercises last week. Speaking Tuesday at the police academy on Northern Parkway, Batts said he will review how police use guns, Tasers and other weapons in "every facet of policing this city. " "We had a major procedural breakdown in our systems, and we're working to correct those," Batts told reporters as instruction resumed at the academy after a weeklong suspension.

The accidental shooting of a University of Maryland police officer trainee in a an exercise is a public relations disaster that Baltimore's mayor and police commissioner wish were just a bad dream ("Campus officer shot in training," Feb. 13). Everyone is asking how this incident that reeks of a Keystone Cops caper could have occurred. But sadly, it's no laughing matter. Apparently the proper authorities were not notified that the training sessions were being conducted at the former Rosewood facility.

The Baltimore City Police Department will resume some training at its academy early this week after all operations there were halted in the wake of an instructor shooting and critically wounding a recruit on Tuesday. Police plan to resume classroom and physical training, but delay firearms training to a later point in the curriculum as the investigation into the shooting continues, said spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "We just want to make sure we don't fall behind in training officers," he said.

State investigators are exploring whether a Baltimore police instructor who shot a trainee this week was horsing around and not participating in a drill when he accidentally reached for his service weapon instead of a paint-cartridge pistol, according to sources familiar with the inquiry. Baltimore police identified the instructor Thursday as Officer William Scott Kern, 46, an 18-year veteran on the force. City police union president Robert F. Cherry said Kern has worked in the training academy for more than a decade and his "integrity was always beyond reproach.

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A University of Maryland campus police officer was critically wounded Tuesday after being shot in the head by an instructor during a training exercise with Baltimore police, an incident that prompted the city's police commissioner to suspend all training pending a safety evaluation. The officer was hit around 2:30 p.m. at the Rosewood Center, a closed state psychiatric hospital in Owings Mills. State police said it was reported as an accident but officials released few details - including why live rounds were being used in a training environment - citing an ongoing investigation.

A Baltimore police officer who last year shot a knife-wielding man through the windshield of his car while seated inside the vehicle has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the city state's attorney's office. The April 10, 2012 shooting had drawn protests, with critics contending that the officer mishandled a call involving a mentally and physically disabled person. It was one of several police-involved shootings last year that involved calls for individuals with mental illness who were shot.