Resident Trooper

Maryland State Police Superintendent Larry W. Tolliver's streamlining plans contained good news for Carroll -- continuation of the Resident Trooper Program that is the county's main law enforcement service.Colonel Tolliver said he wants to eliminate state police services that duplicate other law enforcement agencies' work in many Maryland jurisdictions, but not the Resident Trooper Program used by Carroll and six other counties for police services outside city or town limits.Carroll has no county police force, but a study force recommended last spring that the commissioners begin planning for one -- preparing for the possibility that the Resident Trooper Program could be ended someday.

Carroll County residents loudly told their legislative delegation yesterday that they do not want to rush the creation of a county police department and they want the matter to go to referendum. Many criticized the county commissioners' decision in October to create a county police force and to give themselves the power to appoint its chief. "The commissioners are really wrong on this point, and I ask that they change their minds," said Harold Forney, a county resident who was among about 200 people gathered for a 2 1/2 -hour hearing on the topic.

For nearly two decades, the Maryland State Police has provided protection for Carroll County under a "resident trooper" program. The arrangement seemed beneficial to both sides. Carroll got superior service cheaply, the State Police got a community-training ground. It seemed as though the arrangement would last forever.Until the recession hit.The state, faced with a mammoth deficit, told the county last fall it couldn't afford the traditional 25 percent subsidy it provided for the program.

The Carroll County commissioners have voted to create a county police department with an appointed chief to replace a resident trooper program that has been based at the state police barracks in Westminster for 33 years. Carroll County is the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police as its primary law enforcement agency. Yesterday's decision came after years of discussion among county and police officials about dissolving the state program because of the expense and a shortage of available troopers.

At least one member of the Carroll County Police Force Study Committee has doubts about recommending that the commissioners immediately embark on a program to develop a countywide police force.Carroll County State's Attorney Thomas E. Hickman said it would be much more efficient for the county to rely on the 43 residentstate troopers as long as it can rather than develop its own police force."I have heard that the Maryland State Police have said, 'As long as Carroll County pays the bill, we'll supply the troopers,'" said Hickman at the study committee's Wednesday meeting.

Carroll County, the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police for local law enforcement, will phase out the expensive program in favor of its own force, officials said yesterday. Bowing to the pressures of its population growth, which stretched thin the manpower the Maryland State Police was willing to devote to a resident trooper program, the Carroll County commissioners agreed that they will have to begin planning for a transition soon. Replacing Carroll's resident troopers with local sheriff's deputies or a new county police force should take three to five years, state police Superintendent Col. Thomas E. "Tim" Hutchins and the county commissioners said during a meeting yesterday to discuss the transition.

A shuffle in state police assignments -- to be effective Wednesday -- will affect nearly 20 percent of the resident trooper force in Carroll County.The shift starts at the top, as Lt. Leonard M. Armstrong will replace Capt. Lawrence E. Faries as commander of the Westminster barracks.Many of the changes stem from a statewide violent crimes initiative by Col. David B. Mitchell, superintendent of the Maryland State Police, Armstrong said. Promotions, retirements and routine requests for reassignment account for the remaining job moves.

When Mount Airy resident trooper Cpl. Palmer Grotte receives a promotion Wednesday, he won't make the usual transfer to a new assignment with the Maryland State Police. Town leaders are taking an unusual step to keep "their" trooper.The town government agreed to make up the approximately $3,000 difference between the salary Grotte received as a corporal and his pay as a sergeant, his new rank. The arrangement, which required the approval of State Police Superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell, allows Grotte to act as the equivalent of a town police chief.

THE QUESTION: HOW MANY POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE THERE IN THE COUNTY? The Maryland State Police Resident Trooper program and the county sheriff's department are the primary providers of police coverage throughout Carroll. Five towns -- Westminster, Sykesville, Manchester, Hampstead and Taneytown -- have their own police departments. Union Bridge, New Windsor and Mount Airy, however, rely solely upon the resident trooper program and the sheriff's department. Send your questions of general interest to: carroll.

Saying he favored retaining the Resident Trooper program as the primary police agency in Carroll, First Lt. Kenneth L. Tregoning announced yesterday he will run for sheriff."

Carroll County, the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police for local law enforcement, will phase out the expensive program in favor of its own force, officials said yesterday. Bowing to the pressures of its population growth, which stretched thin the manpower the Maryland State Police was willing to devote to a resident trooper program, the Carroll County commissioners agreed that they will have to begin planning for a transition soon. Replacing Carroll's resident troopers with local sheriff's deputies or a new county police force should take three to five years, state police Superintendent Col. Thomas E. "Tim" Hutchins and the county commissioners said during a meeting yesterday to discuss the transition.

Although Carroll County posts one of the lowest ratios of police to population in the nation, law enforcement officials routinely rate it the safest jurisdiction in Maryland. Those same officials, as well as the county commissioners, know the time is rapidly approaching when the fast-growing county will need a police force of its own. With residents' increasing demands for a stronger, more-visible police presence in their far-flung communities and the Maryland State Police, Carroll's resident law enforcement agency since the 1970s, static in its numbers, the transition to a county police force is inevitable, officials said.

THE QUESTION: HOW MANY POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE THERE IN THE COUNTY? The Maryland State Police Resident Trooper program and the county sheriff's department are the primary providers of police coverage throughout Carroll. Five towns -- Westminster, Sykesville, Manchester, Hampstead and Taneytown -- have their own police departments. Union Bridge, New Windsor and Mount Airy, however, rely solely upon the resident trooper program and the sheriff's department. Send your questions of general interest to: carroll.

The Carroll County delegation is moving forward with the county's $19 million bond authorization request for capital improvement projects after the seven-member group held up the proposal because of concerns over an item on relocating some of the sheriff's services. The delegation, particularly state Sen. Larry E. Haines, was concerned that the item was related to a letter written by the county commissioners to the Maryland State Police. The Dec. 4 letter suggested that the three county officials wanted to transfer law-enforcement efforts from the state police's resident trooper program to the county Sheriff's Office.

Acting state police Superintendent Col. Thomas E. Hutchins said yesterday he's committed to keeping the resident trooper program in Carroll County but cannot promise additional troopers each year to meet the increased policing needs in the fast-growing county. During a meeting at the Westminster barracks, Hutchins told county Chief of Staff Steven D. Powell and Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning that he would continue to work with them to meet the law enforcement demands of the county. "I, too, want to make sure we provide what the people in the county expect," Hutchins said.

The dedication yesterday of the $3.1 million state police barracks in Westminster was, said Lt. Terry Katz, "a perfect time to reflect on the past and look to the future."Katz was joined by Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, state Treasurer Richard N. Dixon and other state and local police and civilian dignitaries who welcomed past barracks commanders, including Carroll County Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning.Katz also welcomed the return of a half-dozen retired troopers who opened the old barracks in 1961 and most of the first 10 resident troopers.

Police protection in Union Bridge is expected to be provided by the resident state trooper the town shares with nearby New Windsor, at least for another year.The budget scheduled for public hearing and a council vote on May 20 resolves a debate over police protection by continuing the resident trooper program for the fiscal year that starts July 1. But Mayor Perry L. Jones said the council police committee won't abandon the issue."We'll probably be studying different angles through the year," Mr. Jones said.

The first employees of a new county police force would be hired by July 1, 1993, if Carroll's commissioners agree with a plan presented Wednesday to the committee studying the issue.But the first hiringcould also be delayed if the county's Resident Trooper Program continues, the committee indicated at its Wednesday meeting."We want to see some state commitment for the Resident Trooper Program," said Morris Krome, a retired state police major who chairs the committee."We don't want to see it continue in limbo as it is now."

Union Bridge has had one serious crime this year, a school break-in by a couple of guys who wanted to play basketball in the gym. But the town does have children and teen-agers who hang on the corner of Main Street and Broadway beneath the town's lone traffic light -- until curfew.The corner gatherings, reports of fights among students at school bus stops and rumors of bus stop drug deals are prompting town residents to organize a crime watch group."We need one, and we need it bad," Keith Hefner, an Elger Street resident told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night.

State and local officials will break ground tomorrow for a Maryland State Police barracks in Westminster.A one-story, 11,900-square-foot facility will replace the existing barracks, state police said. The $3 million project could be completed by summer 1999.Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell are expected to attend the 11 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony at the barracks at 1100 Baltimore Blvd.The new barracks will include a 4,200-square-foot garage, and will be built slightly west of the existing facility, said Lt. Leonard M. Armstrong, commander of the Westminster barracks.