Three veterans retire from Hagerstown Police Department

Lt. Margaret Kline, Officer Wayne Smith and Lt. Tim Wolford together have recorded 102 years of service

June 29, 2010|By DAN DEARTH

Joe Crocetta, Staff Photographer

HAGERSTOWN -- The Hagerstown Police Department will lose more than a century of experience this month with the retirements of three seasoned veterans.

The department held a party Tuesday on the second floor of police headquarters off Burhans Boulevard to honor Lt. Margaret Kline, Officer Wayne Smith and Lt. Tim Wolford, who together have recorded 102 years of service.

"It's just great that they recognized us," Smith said. "I'll miss all the good guys and people on the streets."

Smith, 59, said he started on the force June 5, 1972, when the police department was on the fourth floor of City Hall and inmates were jailed on Jonathan Street.

He said he worked most recently on the warrants squad, picking up criminals with his partner of 15 years, Officer John Kreigh.

"I'll miss him the most," Smith said. "When you're working with someone every day, you know what to expect."

Wolford, 47, said he plans to spend more time with his family when his retirement becomes official at the end of the month.

"Right now, I want to be unemployed for the summer," Wolford said. "I'm going to focus on my wife and four children."

Wolford joined the department in 1983, working his way up from cadet.

"This is an exciting place to work -- sometimes too exciting," he said.

Kline, 54, was sworn in as a police officer Jan. 4, 1977, after serving as a cadet for three years.

She said that although she'll surrender her post as director of the Western Maryland Police Academy, the city has asked her to return on a volunteer basis to compile an official account of the department's history. Kline said she also intends to immerse herself in scrapbooking.

"I'm just going to do some relaxing," Kline said. "I'll take a roadtrip in a heartbeat. I'll keep busy."

Smith's and Wolford's positions will be filled in-house within the next few weeks, Police Chief Arthur Smith. Kline won't be replaced immediately as director of the police academy because the city is under a hiring freeze.

Smith said losing the trio will be like losing a piece of history.

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