"The other thing that we want to emphasize to people is that it's their responsibilty, too. In the past, police have often told people, 'We'll take care of it.' Really, we're trying to tell people, 'We want you to step in here.' It's not just our job."
Can you identify the patrol style that is currently in place in the police department - community oriented policing vs. enforcement oriented?
"I think the best word is comprehensive. The basic components are that you develop relationships with the people you serve, that you solve problems ... and that you also do enforcement. One of the big components that we emphasize ... goes to the broken windows theory.
"In other words, if you do more comprehensive and more aggressive policing, take care of the smaller matters as well as the felony matters, then you begin to see that overall, it cleans things up. And that's been demonstrated in large cities and smaller communities throughout our country in recent years."
Will we ever totally get rid of drugs in Hagerstown?
"No. I can't imagine that we will. Because I really believe that people always seem to have a tendency to become involved in different forms of vice. You would hope to be able to minimize it to a very low amount."
Do you think making drugs legal could be the solution to the drug problem?
"Absolutely not. That would be a critical and huge error."
What's your solution?
"It goes back to families, it goes back to core values and it has to start there."
Why do city police waste their time giving people speeding tickets when they could be chasing drug dealers?
"I don't believe it's a waste of time to give speeding tickets. I think it's important to enforce the speed laws. In fact, we probably could do more of it, whether it's speed enforcement or red light enforcement, if we had the opportunity or resources because we do have a lot of accidents. The idea of speed enforcement is to preclude accidents and injuries that way."
Why do city police allow cab drivers and trucks to block a lane of traffic while picking up people or making a delivery?
"It's a necessary inconvenience. There's no way that you can allow people to move in and out of these neighborhoods and work without doing that. The streets are too thin."
Do you think juveniles should be treated as adults?
"In certain circumstances, I think they should be. But I do think you can go too far with that.
"What we really need to do is to take a look at how we're handling juveniles and what we do with them. I think there's times when there needs to be opportunities to handle them in a lot more structured and controlled environment if they have committed those kinds of crimes.
"Now if a kid's 17, almost 18, I can see treating him as an adult. That makes sense. But to treat a 13-year-old who's committed a certain type of crime like an adult doesn't make a lot of sense. If it means you need to hold them in a more maximum and secure facility, yeah that makes sense. Or to separate him from other kids, so that he doesn't have a negative influence on them, I think that makes sense.
"But I think we just need to take a look at our whole, overall treatment of juveniles."
Do you think the problem with kids today really is that they don't have enough to do?
"Not at all. They have more to do than they ever have. I think it starts with the smallest institution, which is the family, and it goes out to the churches and the schools and the neighborhoods and the communities. I think it goes to all of us to make sure that kids learn the right values. I think that's what they're missing."
Are there gangs in Hagerstown?
"It depends on your definition. In the traditional sense and what more people think of as gangs, there's nothing of any significant structure or organization. There are groups of kids that hang together. But not necessarily in the level of what you'd consider organized crime-type gangs."
Do you think guns should be banned?
