Law Enforcement

Sharing information is crucial for law enforcement agencies that work together to protect their communities from criminals, especially repeat offenders, according to Capt. Mark Holtzman, acting chief of the Hagerstown Police Department. “It's been said that no police department can do it alone, and working on these collaborative efforts really helps bridge the gap,” Holtzman said. As a way to combine efforts and share information, HPD recently became a member of an interagency program in Hagerstown and Washington County called the Safe Streets Coalition.

Washington County's future crime fighters got a taste of what it's like to be a police officer during the recent Junior Police Academy in Hagerstown. Hagerstown Police Department Officer Brett McKoy said a dozen middle-school age children graduated from the academy when it wrapped up June 15. “We want to bring positive programs to the youth of Washington County,” McKoy said. The academy ran from June 11 to 15. During that time, the students participated in a variety of activities that included fingerprinting, firearms training and guided tours of the Washington County circuit and district courts.

A recent suppression hearing in Washington County Circuit Court featured a 90-minute video recording of a Washington County Sheriff's detective interviewing a man suspected of molesting a child. The interview was recorded in February with technology that is new to local law enforcement. During the course of the hearing, one short segment of the video was reviewed several times by the judge and by the defense and prosecuting attorneys, Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson said.

The new headquarters for the law enforcement division of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office is projected to cost between $2.4 million and $2.6 million, officials said this month. “The only big ticket item we have to go yet is our flooring,” said Deputy Berkeley County Administrator Alan J. Davis. Expected to be completed this spring, the project's current estimated cost of $99 per square foot would be about $200 less per square foot than the Berkeley County Judicial Center project next door, Davis said.

These are challenging times for the Mercersburg Police Department. Residents and businesspeople have filled meeting rooms to air grievances about commercial truck inspections, officers' community involvement and accusations of police tailing drivers without cause. The Mercersburg Borough Council developed a new committee and invited Tuscarora Area Chamber of Commerce involvement to look at the issues. At the helm of the police department are Mercersburg Mayor James C. Zeger and Police Chief John D. Zechman.

Law enforcement agencies said they intend to step up patrols to keep the roadways safe over the St. Patrick's Day weekend. Maryland State Police, the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Hagerstown Police Department said the patrols will focus on heavily traveled areas and spots where alcohol-related accidents are common. “We are having additional people out this weekend, but particularly on St. Patrick's Day,” state police Lt. Tom Woodward said. “We have an obligation to be out there.

Top law enforcement officials from Washington County testified Thursday in support of a bill that would give authority to the sheriff to appoint municipal law enforcement officers as special sheriff's deputies. Thursday's hearing for House Bill 559 was at the House Environmental Matters Committee and was attended by Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore, Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman and Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight. A senate committee had a similar hearing for a cross-filed version of the bill in February.

Local law enforcement officials will be honored during this year's “Remembrance in the Park” ceremony at Hagerstown's City Park on Tuesday, Sept. 11, according to a city news release. Hagerstown, Washington County and state law enforcement, emergency services personnel, military members, elected officials and the public are invited to pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, at the ceremony that begins at 7 p.m. Trees will be planted in memory of four Maryland State Police personnel who were killed in the line of duty, including Officer Clinton Rhodes (Jan.

Local law-enforcement officials Thursday did not agree on every point, but all supported some of the gun safety measures proposed by President Obama on Wednesday. Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight Jr. and Hancock Police Chief  T.J. Buskirk supported the president's proposal to limit the number of rounds in a magazine. “From a law enforcement perspective, having a magazine that would hold 30 rounds poses police officers a greater sense of danger if we have to face them,” Knight said.

WASHINGTON COUNTY shappell@herald-mail.com Owners and managers of Washington County businesses that sell motorized scooters still are not on the same page with local law enforcement officials about what is legal on public roads. People on both sides of the issue are scheduled to meet this week to discuss the issue. Members of the Washington County Sheriff's Department, Hagerstown Police Department, Washington County State's Attorney's Office and business owners are to meet Friday at 9 a.m. Washington County law enforcement agencies in June stepped up enforcement efforts, including the issuance of warnings and citations for drivers of what authorities say are illegal scooters.

One of three men accused of passing counterfeit currency Monday has been charged with assaulting Maryland State Police troopers as they attempted to take him into custody in the parking lot of Premium Outlets, according to Washington County District Court records. Tyreik L. Gibson, 28, of Lansdowne, Pa., was charged by state police with three counts each of first- and second-degree assault, and one count each of second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and malicious destruction of property of more than $500, court records said.

Groupon Grassroots selected Vested Interest in K-9s Inc. as its charity partner for the event, which raised more than $155,000 in eight days, according to the news release. Through an online $10 donation, people could purchase a groupon, which is a tax-deductible donation, through a secure website, according to the news release. All funds were allocated to purchase ballistic vests for police department K-9s. Vested Interest in K-9s, a nonprofit organization, will be able to provide bulletproof vests to more than 150 K-9s across the nation as a result of the funds raised, according to the release.

Local law enforcement officials stressed Tuesday the public's role in reporting suspicious activity and talked about what was being done locally in the wake of Monday's bombings near the Boston Marathon finish line. The bombs, which were constructed using pressure cookers packed with material such as metal shrapnel, nails and ball bearings, killed three people and wounded more than 170, the Associated Press reported. “It starts with the public and it starts with that suspicious call, that 911 call,” Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman said.

Two weeks ago, Dean Reeder stood outside the charred remains of his barn near Boonsboro, wondering if authorities would ever bring the people who set the fire to justice. At the time, his Lappans Road barn and nearly 20 other properties were among fires that were intentionally set across Washington County over a one-week span that began on March 17. On Wednesday, however, he and several other people whose property was burned praised law enforcement officials, particularly the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office, for charging four people with the crimes.

When you see Hammerhead, Ox, Hardcore and the rest of the Defenders rumbling through your town, just remember this: They aren't looking to make trouble. Because most of them are police officers and first responders, their day jobs usually involve putting an end to trouble. Seven members and an associate of the Defenders Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club's 56th and newest chapter, the Mason-Dixon Chapter, donned their colors and mounted their Harleys on Saturday for a ride through the county.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, Baltimore Division, are participating in a joint law enforcement operation. The ATF has established and leads task forces focused on tobacco diversion, firearms, armed narcotics trafficking, explosives incidents and arson investigation. Task forces provide a number of advantages for all participating agencies, including drawing on the expertise of federal, state, county and local law enforcement, which shares resources with all participating agencies and increases the investigative possibilities available to all parties involved.

An operation by Maryland State Police near Sharpsburg last year prompted two Washington County legislators to introduce a bill during the current session of the Maryland General Assembly requiring the chief of the primary law enforcement agency in a county to be notified before an officer from another agency serves a warrant in areas within a county's jurisdiction. That bill died in committee, but the two legislators behind that bill - Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, and Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington - are supporting another bill with amendments they say would achieve some of the same objectives.

Law enforcement agencies said they intend to step up patrols to keep the roadways safe over the St. Patrick's Day weekend. Maryland State Police, the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Hagerstown Police Department said the patrols will focus on heavily traveled areas and spots where alcohol-related accidents are common. “We are having additional people out this weekend, but particularly on St. Patrick's Day,” state police Lt. Tom Woodward said. “We have an obligation to be out there.

Top law enforcement officials from Washington County testified Thursday in support of a bill that would give authority to the sheriff to appoint municipal law enforcement officers as special sheriff's deputies. Thursday's hearing for House Bill 559 was at the House Environmental Matters Committee and was attended by Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore, Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman and Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight. A senate committee had a similar hearing for a cross-filed version of the bill in February.

Police shot a Virginia man multiple times during an altercation with police in downtown Martinsburg Wednesday night along Queen Street, the city's police department announced Thursday afternoon. Wayne Arnold Jones, 50, of Stephens City, Va., was pronounced dead at the scene in the 100 block of Queen Street, police said in a news release. Police said they used projectile stun guns twice on the man and he was later shot after stabbing an officer in the torso with a knife. The officer's stab wound was later determined to be minor, and he did not need medical attention, police said.