Precinct

Almost 29,000 Harford residents would be shifted into new County Council districts next year to resolve inequities in voter representation under a plan a redistricting commission has recommended.The changes in council district boundaries would affect 28,887 people -- almost 16 percent of the county's 182,132 residents.Most county voters wouldn't even notice the difference when they go to the polls in 1994, the next time council elections are to be held, said Rita Dather, administrator for the county Board of Elections.

A Baltimore County police captain who was recently reassigned from the Woodlawn Precinct this month is being investigated by the department's internal affairs section, a spokeswoman confirmed. Capt. Andre K. Davis, who was reassigned to the Community Resources Section, is the subject of the investigation, police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said. "I can't comment on or offer the details of that complaint because it is a personnel matter," she said Tuesday in an email. Davis, reached by phone, denied any wrongdoing and would not comment further about the allegations.

A delegation of police officers and government officials from Argentina visited the Baltimore County Police Department yesterday to learn about U.S. law enforcement, from working with police dogs to community patrols.The 30-member group is on a two-week program in the United States to learn about the operations of a police force in a democracy. After a briefing on community policing, the group toured the White Marsh Precinct and saw demonstrations by the department's tactical and police dog units.

Two officers have been given awards for valor by the Baltimore County Police Foundation for their role in an incident in which one shot and killed a Texas man allegedly involved in a Dundalk burglary. North Point Precinct officers Jacob T. Heins, a 12-year veteran, and Phillip G. Twisdale, with six years on the force, have returned to their jobs after county prosecutors declined to charge them in the incident that killed 22-year-old Joshua Michael Lopez. Both were hailed at an awards dinner in Hunt Valley "for their bravery and heroism during a life or death struggle," according to the program of the Tuesday event held by the foundation.

A 32-year-old Southwest Baltimore man escaped from police custody at the Wilkens Precinct yesterday, Baltimore County police reported.William Paul Anthony of the 2500 block of Marbourne Ave. was being held at the precinct on charges of theft and failure to appear, according to police.Police said Anthony identified himself as another prisoner, signed for the prisoner's belongings and was released about 2 p.m.When recaptured, Anthony will be charged with escape and another theft offense, county police said.

More Baltimore County police will be working from local precincts under a decentralization plan announced yesterday by top county officials.The reorganization is a continuation of the trend toward "community policing" begun a decade ago by former Chief Cornelius J. Behan, but yesterday's plan goes much further.At a news conference, Police Chief Michael D. Gambrill and County Executive Roger B. Hayden said 122 more officers will be working from the county's nine precinct stations. Combined with efforts to hire private companies to transport prisoners and write parking tickets and the hiring of more civilians and police cadets to free uniformed officers for patrol, the plan will put more officers on the streets than ever, they said.

The longest-serving precinct captain during the tenure of Baltimore County Police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan leaves Garrison Precinct today to take the same position in Wilkens Precinct. Capt. Stephen Vaughan, who is credited with reducing crime and forging tight bonds with the community during his 5 1/2 years at Garrison, replaces Capt. John A. Spiroff as commander at Wilkens, in the southwestern part of the county. Spiroff has been given administrative duties in police headquarters while commanders review his recent conviction for reckless driving.

Indecent exposure, assault, a faked gunshot wound -- the list reads like a police blotter.But each of the incidents, which occurred within the past 12 months, involved Baltimore County Police officers from the Essex Precinct. And this week, the precinct suffered another blow, as an 11-year veteran was charged with assaulting and kidnapping a United Parcel Service driver in Timonium.As precinct commanders redouble efforts to remind officers that misconduct will not be tolerated, each troubling incident puts the integrity of the department and its officers at stake.

Baltimore County police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan will name a second African-American lieutenant and the only female precinct commander when he promotes 14 members of the department this week. Officials say Sgt. Robert O. McCullough's promotion highlights the department's attempts to improve its lackluster record of promoting minorities into the top ranks. He will join Lt. Richard Howard as the department's highest-ranking African-Americans. "This is one more step forward in our efforts to have a department that reflects the county's diversity," said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman.

After serving most of his police career in Essex, Capt. Jim Johnson had cleaned out his office and was headed for a prestigious new assignment -- commander of the Baltimore County police training academy.He faced one barrier, however. Residents didn't want him to leave."Working Essex, where we have lots of problems, wasn't a job for Captain Johnson, it was his life," says Susan Widerman, president of the Walnut Grove Neighborhood Association. "If he went, we would have felt kind of helpless."

Baltimore County police named an interim commander of the Franklin Precinct in Reisterstown Monday, after the former captain was charged with driving while intoxicated last month. Capt. James P. Monahan will leave the county's intelligence unit and move to Precinct 3 starting next Monday, according to a department statement. Before working in intelligence, he supervised the homicide unit and has been with the department since 1988. Lt. Sam Houston, who is currently in the intelligence unit and has been with the department since 2002, will take over that unit.

A Baltimore County police captain was arrested at a St. Patrick's weekend sobriety checkpoint and has since been moved to administrative duty, the department said in a statement Monday. Capt. Matthew McElwee, 43, of the Franklin Precinct in Reisterstown, received citations from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office accusing him of driving while intoxicated and driving while under the influence. He did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Baltimore County police said he was driving his personal vehicle and was not carrying a weapon at the time.

State officials are investigating complaints about long lines at polls that left some voters waiting for two hours on Election Day despite lower than expected turnout. Baltimore elections officials and the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also received complaints from voters who said they cast a ballot in the 2008 election but found that their names were not listed on voter rolls Tuesday. State elections officials plan to investigate each of the roughly dozen cases identified.

Capt. Douglas Irwin, a Carroll County native and a 20-year police veteran who has spent the past 10 months as commander of the Baltimore County Police Department's Internal Affairs Division, was recently assigned to be the new commander of that county's Wilkens Precinct, which oversees the areas of Catonsville and Arbutus. A graduate of Liberty High School, in Eldersburg, the Community College of Baltimore County and University of Maryland, Irwin decided to apply to the Baltimore County Police after hearing about its good reputation.

Some of those who came to play at Hot Spot Sweepstakes in Towson on Wednesday afternoon walked away disappointed. Some seemed stunned. Finding the door locked, they peeked into the tinted storefront window to see a dark room and tables and chairs, but none of the computer terminals where some spent hours a week playing a slots game for cash prizes. The game room with 100 computer terminals had been shut down and cleared of all machines earlier in the day by Baltimore County police officers, who hit the location on Goucher Boulevard in Towson and nine other places in the county in a sweep culminating an investigation that began late last year.

A man shot and killed by a Baltimore County police officer in Dundalk early Sunday morning was identified as a 22-year-old from Texas. Police said Joshua Michael Lopez, 22, of La Marque, Texas, was shot after he became combative when officers tried to interview him in response to calls for a suspicious person in the area of Seaside Road and Dunmanway about 2:21 a.m. A Navy spokesman confirmed Tuesday that Lopez was stationed with USS Vella Gulf...

Baltimore County police Capt. Stephen Vaughan can still remember the dread he felt the first time he entered the Wilkens Precinct as a youth. "I had to come here to retrieve my BB gun from an irate citizen who confiscated it," he recalled. Vaughan grew up in Arbutus and Catonsville and has returned to his roots after recently being named commander of the Wilkens Precinct. The assignment brings the career of the 27-year police veteran full-circle. "When you grow up someplace," he said, "it really is a homecoming."

Baltimore County police Capt. Stephen Vaughan can still remember the dread he felt the first time he entered the Wilkens Precinct as a youth. "I had to come here to retrieve my BB gun from an irate citizen who confiscated it," he recalled. Vaughan grew up in Arbutus and Catonsville and has returned to his roots after recently being named commander of the Wilkens Precinct. The assignment brings the career of the 27-year police veteran full-circle. "When you grow up someplace," he said, "it really is a homecoming."

I've been writing for quite some time about the community liaison in the Baltimore County Police Department's Towson Precinct and his efforts to share crime news with the public. He had for years emailed out a list of incidents, much coveted by residents who want to know what's going on, but in recent months its been a series of fits and starts. He had to stop, then start again, and then stop again this week. Commanders were concerned that some of the details might compromise investigations, as his list was an basically an internal police memo.

All Baltimore County Sgt. Stephen Fink wanted to do was inform the people in the Towson area about crime in their neighborhood. He distributed a weekly crime report that summarized burglaries, arrests and other incidents that residents clamor for. Then, in 2009, he was told to stop sending out the information because it in addition to getting in the hands of homeowners, it was also getting into the hands of the media. A department spokesman at the time quickly restored the service, to both the media and the residents.