Barracks

A newly promoted lieutenant assumed command of the Hagerstown barracks of the Maryland State Police on Thursday. Lt. Bruce Smith, whose transfer officially took effect on Wednesday, formerly commanded the Bureau of Drug and Criminal Enforcement for the southcentral and western region in Westminster, Md., officials said. Smith follows Lt. Donnie Knott, who becomes the commander of the Annapolis barracks, officials said. Smith served in the Hagerstown barracks for several months in 1995 and 1996.

R. Bruce Tanner, commander of the Hagerstown barracks of the Maryland State Police, has been promoted to captain and transferred to headquarters in Pikesville, Md., officials said. Tanner, whose promotion was granted Aug. 13, will work in the agency's Human Resources Division, according to spokeswoman Sgt. Laura Lu Herman. Tanner became barracks commander in Hagerstown in June 1996. Before that, he was barracks commander in Carroll County for two years. Taking over for Tanner in Hagerstown will be Donnie Knott, who was just promoted to lieutenant from first sergeant, Herman said.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A new report may suggest that 30 West Virginia State Police detachments be shut down immediately, but mushrooming population growth in the Eastern Panhandle is likely to keep any local barracks from closing, a local state police official said Wednesday. In fact, state police are planning for more facilities in the Eastern Panhandle, not fewer, according to Capt. Sid Sponaugle, who oversees state police operations in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties.

Familiar face back at PSP barracks By STACEY DANZUSO chbbureau@innernet.net CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - In the 22 years since Lt. Lynn Hess was first stationed at the Pennsylvania State Police's Chambersburg barracks as a trooper, very little has changed. It remains one of the busiest stations in the state, and many of the key players in law enforcement have stayed the same, said Hess, who was reassigned to Chambersburg in late November as station commander.

New barracks commander says he's lucky to be a trooper By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI / Staff Writer photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer When Lt. Randy Resh started with the Maryland State Police in the 1970s he never dreamed he would one day become commander of the Hagerstown barracks, he said. continued Resh considers himself lucky to be a state trooper because he was born with a heart murmur and his application was originally denied because of it, he added.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com McCONNELLSBURG, PA. - After more than 20 years in different jobs across Pennsylvania, Sgt. David Copley is where he expects to be until retirement, and settling in nicely ... although his view on life is still gray. In fact, Copley says he even bleeds gray - the color of his Pennsylvania State Police uniform. He wears that uniform nearly all the time, even though he is permitted to wear civilian clothes as the new station commander in McConnellsburg.

MARTINSBURG, W. Va. - The Martinsburg barracks of the West Virginia State Police are on the lookout for toys and canned foods to give to the needy. From now until Dec. 21 the barracks will accept toys in good condition and non-perishable items as part of a holiday effort with the Salvation Army. Toys will be accepted at all state police barracks, including those in Morgan County and Berkeley Springs. No money will be accepted and anyone with questions can call the Martinsburg state police barracks at 304-267-0000.

shappell@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Maryland State Police Lt. Gregory Johnston reassumed the top position at the Hagerstown barracks Wednesday after serving in the capacity of an assistant since early 2003. The former barracks commander, Capt. Robert Turano, is now overseeing a four-barracks troop that includes Hagerstown. Maryland State Police Col. Thomas E. Hutchins announced Wednesday that several organizational changes have been made throughout the state. The change returns Maryland State Police to an organizational structure it has used in the past, according to a police news release.

shappell@herald-mail News of a Maryland State Police Academy class starting in August, albeit a month later than usual, could be a great help to several barracks around the state, including one in Washington County. There had been some uncertainty about whether an academy session would be held in 2003. Maryland State Police spokesman Maj. Greg Shipley said a sixth-month training class for potential troopers will begin on Aug. 4. Despite speculation there would be no summer academy because of a state funding shortfall, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich approved funding for the class earlier this month, Shipley said.

The Maryland State Police barrack south of Hagerstown is hosting an event Saturday to let people turn in their unwanted or expired prescription medication. The National Take Back Initiative will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the state police barrack at 18345 Col. Henry K. Douglas Drive. The initiative was designed to give people an opportunity to safely dispose of their unused or expired medications before they fall into the wrong hands.

Visitors to the new Maryland State Police barrack on Col. Henry K. Douglas Drive off Sharpsburg Pike have to be buzzed in to go through the second set of doors at the entrance. At the duty officer station inside the door, thick bullet-proof glass protects a desk area and protective Kevlar lines the walls around the glass. High security measures are in place throughout the $11.3 million facility, from a five-layer check point system that one must pass through to reach the building's crime lab to surveillance cameras inside a drug evidence room that can be monitored at the Maryland State Police headquarters in Pikesville, Md. Known as the Maryland State Police Western Operations Center, the new facility was built in part to replace a worn out state police barrack on the site that was built in 1973 and the building is designed to accommodate growth in the region for many years to come, state police officials said.

HAGERSTOWN -- After being delayed for years by state budget restraints, officials broke ground Thursday morning at the site of the new Maryland State Police barrack south of Hagerstown. The groundbreaking ceremony was held a few dozen feet from the existing barrack at 18345 Colonel Henry K Douglas Drive. About 100 people attended, including state police officials and local politicians who helped secure funding for the $10.3 million project. Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, superintendent of the Maryland State Police, said the idea was on the drawing board for six or seven years, but there wasn't enough money to pay for it. "All of this will enhance our ability to provide our citizens of Maryland, especially Washington County, with a much more efficient law enforcement service," Sheridan said.

HAGERSTOWN -- As plans for a new Maryland State Police barrack in Washington County expanded, so did the cost. The state is replacing the current barrack off Sharpsburg Pike south of Hagerstown with a larger building that also will have other uses. The low bid for the latest version of the project -- $10.1 million by Manekin Construction LLC of Columbia, Md. -- is about 13 percent more than the low bid for an earlier version last year. But the latest low bid still is less than the amount budgeted for the project.

HAGERSTOWN --A new round of bids to rebuild a Maryland State Police barrack off Sharpsburg Pike is due this week. The state is trying again -- and expanding the project -- after last year's bids came in well under the budgeted amount. Nine eligible bids were submitted last year in the range of $10 million to $12 million, State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said in November 2009. Now, another component -- a disaster recovery center -- is being added to the plan, according to Bill Ebare, a capital projects officer for the state police.

HAGERSTOWN -- Bids for a new Maryland State Police barrack off Sharpsburg Pike came in millions of dollars under budget, but the work isn't moving ahead yet. The project is being rebid late in the winter to add another component, a disaster recovery data center, said Bill Ebare, capital projects officer for the state police. Legislative auditors have cited state police for not having a real-time working data system mirroring the operations at the Pikesville headquarters, Ebare said.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department is launching an "aggressive driver" campaign this month to help West Virginia State Police curb reckless driving and speeding on Interstate 81. A $6,000 grant awarded by the West Virginia Governor's Highway Safety Program will give deputies the opportunity to earn overtime pay to patrol the state's 26-mile section of the highway. While happy to receive help from the sheriff's department, State Police 1st Sgt. E.D. Burnett, the district commander for the Eastern Panhandle, said he also hoped to be able to reestablish the law enforcement agency's "interstate patrol team.

WARFORDSBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police were looking Friday for a 13-year-old Fulton County girl who has been missing since not returning home from Southern Fulton High School on Tuesday, the department said in a news release. The girl, Brieanne Rank, is thought to be in the Hancock area, police said. She is about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 110 pounds. She has shoulder-length, straight brown hair last known to be dyed blond with a pink stripe. Her hair might be pulled back, and she was last seen wearing a gray sweat shirt with Maryland Lotto printed on it, blue jeans with pink writing on them and black Vans tennis shoes.

ANNAPOLIS -- A new Maryland State Police barrack for Hagerstown might have to wait at least another year. A House Appropriations subcommittee has cut the entire $14.8 million proposed in next year's capital budget for the new barrack, which would replace the current one off Sharpsburg Pike. A Senate committee has kept the money intact. If the full Senate and House pass their respective versions of the fiscal year 2009 capital budget as they stand, a committee would work out the differences, including funding for the barrack.

McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 25, for a Harrisonville, Pa., being held on $1 million bail in connection with the attempted murder of a Fulton County man earlier this month. Gregory Aaron Rouzer, 40, of 1291 Possum Hollow Road, was arrested Friday evening near Chambersburg (Pa.) Hospital by Pennsylvania State Police. He was accompanied by his attorney and a family friend when he was taken into custody, said Trooper Richard Cutchall of the state police barracks in Fulton County.