Task Force

The Baltimore region's FBI office is planning to double its staff investigating online child-sex crimes if a special funding measure is approved by Congress.Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, held a news conference at the regional office in Woodlawn yesterday to publicize the Senate's approval of a bill earmarking $10 million to enhance a national task force fighting child pornography and sexual exploitation on the Internet.The local FBI office coordinates the task force, called Operation Innocent Images and staffed by 10 agents.

Two months after Baltimore stopped issuing tickets from its speed and red light cameras, city officials said Thursday they still don't know when the automated enforcement program will resume. "We want to be able to re-establish the public trust in what we're doing," said William Johnson, who was appointed transportation director by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in May. A Baltimore Sun investigation last year documented erroneous speed readings from several speed cameras supplied by a prior vendor and found that city judges routinely throw out tickets for various deficiencies.

The Columbia Association is seeking community members to serve on its Aquatics Master Plan Task Force. The master plan, still in its preliminary stages, will determine the future of Columbia's 23 indoor and four outdoor pools, as well as an indoor hot water therapy pool, over the next 10 to 20 years. Members of the task force will review and discuss alternatives, recommendations and priorities for the pools. For more information on the plan, visit columbiaassociation.org/aquaticsmasterplan, and to apply for the task force, visit columbiaassociation.org/aquaticsmasterplan/application.pdf.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler called Monday for an independent investigation into the scandal at the Baltimore City Detention Center, saying the public needs to know which government employees allowed corruption to flourish. "Public confidence in the prison system can only be restored after a full, transparent and independent review with an eye toward holding accountable the responsible public officials," Gansler wrote. Gov. Martin O'Malley immediately rebuffed the request, saying in a letter that the federal indictments of corrections officials and inquiries by two new task forces were response enough.

Editor: During the legislative session of Oct. 18, the Harford County Council acting in both its capacity as the Board of Health and the legislative body unanimously approved Resolution 28-11 establishing a Harford County Obesity Task Force.  According to our most recent data, the health of Harford County adults and children has declined from 1996 to 2010 with respect to numerous chronic diseases including, diabetes, heart disease, high...

The only thing more amusing than Gov. Martin O'Malley's response to the incompetence and negligence of yet another of his state agencies (in this case, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services) by calling a "task force" ("O'Malley forms task force on city jail," May 28), is his denomination of it as a "powerful new weapon in our arsenal. " He should be a carnival barker. Thomas F. McDonough, Towson

As The Sun recently reported ("Task force rejects having elected Baltimore Co. school board," Sept. 10), the legislative task force considering alternatives to the board selection process "abruptly decided Friday to rule out recommending the addition of elected board members. " According to the legislation establishing the task force, the charge they were to carry out was: "to make recommendations on how many members should constitute the Baltimore County Board of Education.

Maryland could become the first state in the nation to ban the sale of bumper pads that line the inside of cribs after a state panel recommended Friday that health officials declare them a hazard because they can suffocate or strangle babies. The recommendations made by the four-member task force of mostly pediatricians will now go to Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, secretary of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, who will decide whether to write them into regulation. The recommendations would not prevent parents from using the crib bumpers — which have been attributed to at least two dozen infant deaths nationwide — or buying them in other states.

A task force studying Baltimore's troubled speed camera program will urge the city to increase oversight, change the way camera sites are selected and create a website containing maps and other information of interest to the public, according to draft recommendations released Wednesday. A final report is expected to be presented in the next two weeks to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who formed the task force last summer. "It's going to help us make a better program," acting Transportation Director Frank Murphy said.

Maryland's legislative leaders today appointed a bipartisan panel to study the impact of recent court ruling that labeled pit bulls as 'inherently dangerous' for liability purposes and to make recommendations about possible legislative fixes. Five members from each chamber have been named, including three of the five delegates who introduced legislation aimed at overturning the court's ruling during the May special session in Annapolis. The 4-3 decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals came in April after the General Assembly's regular session expired, and drew outrage from dog owners who fear that thousands of pit bulls will be put down.

Three industry groups from Baltimore and Washington said Thursday that they've banded together to "solidify" the region as the top place for cyber-related business growth. The new Baltimore-Washington Cyber Task Force - formed by the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore - will work with other groups on the effort. They want to capitalize on the U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, which oversees the operation and defense of the military's information networks.

Anne Arundel County has launched a tip line designed to let people report possible unethical or inappropriate behavior by Anne Arundel County police. The tip line, 410-222-2400, feeds to a task force examining the agency, and is a voice mailbox where people — residents as well as county employees — can leave information. Tips can be made anonymously, though people are encouraged to leave contact information, according to a statement from County Executive Laura Neuman. Neuman, who called for an investigation into the department, said the hotline is aimed at providing confidentiality for people who want to provide information they think can help the task force.

The only thing more amusing than Gov. Martin O'Malley's response to the incompetence and negligence of yet another of his state agencies (in this case, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services) by calling a "task force" ("O'Malley forms task force on city jail," May 28), is his denomination of it as a "powerful new weapon in our arsenal. " He should be a carnival barker. Thomas F. McDonough, Towson

A task force appointed last year by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to study the city's speed and red-light camera program violated Maryland law when it met behind closed doors in March, the state Open Meetings Compliance Board ruled this week. The task force also violated the open-meetings law by not giving reasonable advance notice of meetings and by failing to take proper minutes, the board said in the ruling published Monday. While the decision carries no penalty, a judge could assess a $100 fine on members who "willfully" participated in the meeting.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman is asking law enforcement professionals from other jurisdictions to examine the county's troubled police department. Since she took over in February from disgraced former executive John R. Leopold, Neuman said Friday, her office has received a steady stream of anonymous notes alleging problems in the agency. Leopold was convicted of criminal misconduct in office for directing his police protection detail to perform political and personal tasks.

A lawyer for Baltimore City says a task force appointed by the mayor to study the city's speed camera program did not hold an illegal closed-door meeting during a March visit to a contractor's headquarters. But a prominent member of the task force called the city's version of events "not true. " Assistant City Solicitor Hilary Ruley told state officials this week that a presentation to the task force was stopped once members realized the public had been barred from attending by Brekford Corp., the city's new camera vendor.

New details about planned redevelopment of the Rotunda have emerged, including a possibly quicker timetable for moving a new grocery store into the struggling mall in Roland Park. "One of the (grocery retail) groups we're working with has expressed a desire to move in as soon as possible. We're hoping the logistics work out," Al Barry, a local land-use consultant to mall owner Hekemian & Co., told a neighborhood advisory task force Tuesday. "Retailers like parking and access. That's going to be a challenge.

Baltimore County police are announcing today a new task force to combat the growing problem of metals theft that his hitting homeowners and businesses throughout the region. The Metal Thefts Team is being called the area's first law enforcement group dedicated to investigating the thefts, which include everything from ripping copper gutters off homes to breaking into Baltimore Gas and Electric facilities and taking electronic devices. The president of BGE, Ken DeFontes, is expected to join Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and Police Chief Jim Johnson at the announcement, at a BGE training center in White Marsh.

Gov. Martin O'Malley suggested Towson University form a task force to study how better to deal with meeting Title IX rules on gender equity. The governor, who proposed giving state money to save the university's baseball program, told a group of reporters Monday that all his questions about the decision to eliminate some men's sports had been answered. But he suggested that perhaps the public would benefit from a task force. "I think a lot of us have trouble with the idea that to create more sports opportunities for our daughters, we have have to eliminate opportunities for our sons," O'Malley said.

Three members of an anti-speed camera group have filed an open-meetings complaint against a task force appointed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to study Baltimore's troubled automated enforcement system. The complaint, filed April 1, alleges seven violations of the state Open Meetings Act. Several stem from a closed-door session March 20, at which task force members were briefed by the city's new vendor, Brekford Corp., inside the company's Anne Arundel County headquarters. The head of the task force, Transportation Department lobbyist Barbara Zektick, referred questions about the complaint to an agency spokeswoman, who declined to comment.