Precinct

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."

Capt. David P. Moxley was 21, fresh from the Baltimore County police academy when he started in the Garrison precinct. Now, 46 and a 25-year-veteran of the department, Moxley will return today as the district commander. "It sure has changed a lot," Moxley said. "It's grown tremendously." The Garrison precinct covers one of the largest geographical areas in the county and includes Reisterstown, Owings Mills and Pikesville. The precinct also has the most staff - nearly 200 people - of any station in the county.

Baltimore County police Maj. Adam Starr is the focus of a departmental sexual harassment probe and has been temporarily removed from his position as commander of the Garrison Precinct.Allegations against the 24-year department veteran surfaced about a month ago from his civilian secretary at the precinct, according to sources familiar with the case. They said Starr -- one of 13 majors in the 1,535-member department -- repeatedly asked the secretary for a date despite her continued refusals.

For 50 years, Baltimore County police officers assigned to the Parkville area have worked out of a cramped, single-story brick building on Old Harford Road. Stuffy and dusty, it even smells old. Yesterday, the officers packed up and moved out -- to temporary trailers that some said seem roomier than the building. The officers will call the trailers home for the next 2 1/2 years during an $8.7 million project to build separate police and fire stations on the footprint of a building that houses both departments.

MARYLAND ISN'T Florida. No hanging chads, no screw-ups in counting presidential votes. But there's considerable confusion in this state over the best way for citizens to cast ballots. Nineteen counties use optical-scan paper ballots; three use mechanical-lever machines; one uses an updated scanning system; and Baltimore City uses a touch-screen electronic voting device. What's needed is a uniform voting system throughout the state. That's precisely what a special state commission is recommending.

A Towson man arrested over the weekend on four routine traffic citations says he was verbally and physically abused in a police cruiser and denied medical care while he was held at the precinct for eight hours. The incident marks the second time in recent weeks that a Baltimore County resident has complained about being mistreated by officers from the Towson Precinct. The latest case involves Kristopher M. Klipner, 22, who was pulled over about 3 a.m. Saturday for allegedly crossing the center line while driving on Burke Avenue, near York Road.

Why Sandy Schrader? Why did voters in Howard County's new Legislative District 13 pick three Democrats to be delegates and two Democrats for the County Council, but elect Republican Sandra B. Schrader to the Maryland Senate - instead of Democratic political institution C. Vernon Gray? And since the 59 percent of Howard voters who went to the polls also backed Republican Robert L. Ehrlich for governor, why didn't those coattails help GOP candidates Bob Adams and Mary Beth Tung, who ran for delegate with Schrader?

Leaders of the Baltimore County Police Department took time out yesterday in the search for fugitive Joseph C. Palczynski to promote 12 officers. During the ceremony at Villa Julie College, county police Chief Terrence B. Sheridan named a colonel, major and captain; two lieutenants; three sergeants; and four corporals. Maj. Dennis M. Robinson, a 28-year veteran, was promoted to colonel and will command a new division called the administrative and technical services bureau. Capt. James W. Johnson was promoted to major and will replace Robinson as supervisor of the western patrol division.

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.

In Baltimore County Police cable TV show offers safe-shopping tips TOWSON - The current edition of the Baltimore County Police Department's cable program, Police Report, features holiday shopping safety tips and a profile of the White Marsh Precinct. Guests on the program, which runs through Dec. 5, include Capt. Lee Russo, commander of the White Marsh Precinct; Lt. Bill Duty, the precinct's assistant commander; and Officer Marti Franklin-Motton, a member of the Community Outreach Team in the Garrison Precinct.