Barracks

wandaw@herald-mail.com Fifty-two Maryland State Police troopers stood in formation Wednesday during the Western Troops' first superintendent's inspection in several years. Troopers arrived Wednesday morning wearing freshly polished black shoes, shined brass medals and crisp uniforms. Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Thomas "Tim" Hutchins, of state police headquarters in Pikesville, Md., conducted a traditional superintendent's inspection with troopers from the Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland, and McHenry barracks in Western Maryland.

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.com Maryland State Police Capt. Rob Turano on Tuesday gave awards to two officers at his barracks, a police communications operator and a county resident in appreciation for their actions during three incidents in 2003 and 2004. Turano, commander of the Hagerstown barracks, presented the Commander's Award to Troopers Robert L. Embly and Jesse F. Broadwater, a letter of recognition to Anita Bussard and the Good Citizen Award to Roscoe F. Martin. Turano said he chose to invoke his right as a commander to recognize and honor the four because the annual awards from headquarters were delayed amid an administration change.

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.

shappell@herald-mail.com Maryland State Police continued their increased search for aggressive drivers with another grant-funded operation Monday. Several troopers from state police barracks in Hagerstown and Frederick, Md., worked overtime to look for unsafe drivers. Sgt. Mike Hegedus, who is based at the Hagerstown barracks, said Monday that several troopers from the barracks were patrolling county roads looking for aggressive drivers during their day off and earning overtime pay. The operation, referred to as "Operation Storm" by a spokeswoman from the Pikesville, Md., barracks, was funded by a federal traffic initiative grant, Hegedus said.

shappell@herald-mail.com HANCOCK - Maryland and Pennsylvania State Police troopers were unsuccessful in a day-long manhunt Tuesday for a 31-year-old fugitive. Troopers did arrest a woman at a truck stop in Hancock. She was allegedly with the fugitive during an afternoon police chase north of the Maryland state line, police said. Maryland State Police Sgt. Kevin Lewis, of the Hagerstown barracks, said troopers arrested Vicki Otto, 33, of no fixed address, in the parking lot of the Hancock Truck Stop on Md. 144 at approximately 9 p.m. Monday.

gregs@herald-mail.com Maryland State Police Trooper 1st Class Charles Stanford passes two crosses every day as he drives to work from Smithsburg. The two crosses on Md. 64 near Old Georgetown Road represent two lives taken in an auto accident nearly a year ago. For Stanford, they're a daily reminder of the pain and suffering one drunken driver can cause, and the man he helped put behind bars. On Friday, Stanford received the Commander's Award at the Hagerstown barracks for exemplary work on the accident investigation that sent Donald Lee Curfman to prison.

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.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Four additional West Virginia State Police troopers will be assigned to the Martinsburg detachment, allowing the barrack to adequately staff its midnight shift, a state police official said Monday. Because of a trooper shortage across the state, state police in Berkeley County, W.Va., have not been staffing the midnight to 8 a.m. shift on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, state police said. The four troopers being sent to the Martinsburg state police detachment will bring the number of troopers at the barrack to 21, and allow the office to cover the midnight shift, 1st Sgt. Deke Walker said.

marlob@herald-mail.com Last spring when Lt. Greg Johnston took over as Maryland State Police barrack commander in Hagerstown, he said he hoped he'd get to stay for a while in his home community. He will, but as of March 19, Johnston will be reassigned as second in command under newly assigned Hagerstown barrack commander, Capt. Rob Turano, as a reorganization of the entire agency continues to ripple through the state. "Everything is being pushed down a rank and that will put more people on the road," Johnston said Tuesday.