Law Enforcement

Peter Dougherty, president of the Jefferson County Board of Education, Tuesday was appointed to replace ousted Jefferson County Sheriff Bobby Shirley on a 3-2 vote following public interviews. Jefferson County Commission members Walter Pellish, Dale Manuel and Patsy Noland voted for Dougherty. Commissioners Jane Tabb and Lyn Widmyer went for retired Charles Town Police Chief Louis Brunswick. Steve Groh, an assistant county prosecutor, the third candidate interviewed Tuesday, received no votes.  The three candidates were singled out for interviews from an original list of 16 applicants.

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.

Letter writer confused 'military' with 'militia' To the editor: This letter is in response to one written by Jim Thompson of Chambersburg, Pa., that appeared in The Herald-Mail on Feb. 8. Thompson started out just fine with his “dictionary.” But I would suggest that he do two things: Look up the word “arms” and read the Second Amendment. The first definition of “arms” is “weapons” - period. Secondly, the word “military” is not mentioned in the Second Amendment.

A bill that would enhance penalties for adults who physically attack and/or harm minors unanimously passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week. House Bill 350 was authored by state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin. The measure was drafted by Rock based on the recommendations of the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection that was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal, according to a news release. If signed into law, anyone 18 years of age or older who causes bodily injury to a child younger than 12 could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.

Patricia Greenlee never thought she would be a victim of domestic violence. She never witnessed a domestic violence in her life. Her parents had been married for 52 years, and she and her four siblings all were college educated. “I always thought that those people who didn't have as much education, who didn't live in good neighborhoods were those who dealt with domestic violence,” Greenlee told Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and more than 30 others gathered Friday near Martinsburg for a discussion on the issue and the Violence Against Women Act now pending in Congress.

A bill introduced in the Senate in the current session of the Maryland General Assembly seeks to broaden the scope of a protective order, to better protect those in or formerly in intimate relationships from domestic violence. Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, introduced a version of the bill in 2012 but he said that even though the bill last year had some “general support, the language of the bill needed to be worked out.” Shank has been speaking out for the need to expand the definition of a protective order, which currently is restricted, among others, to married couples, those who have a child together or those who are living together.

Two Washington County legislators have filed bills in the current session of the Maryland General Assembly that would require 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 the county's jurisdiction. The bills, which have been filed in the House and the Senate by Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington, and Sen. Christopher Shank, R-Washington, respectively, are in response to an incident in Sharpsburg in November where the Maryland State Police executed a no-knock search warrant at an address, but the Washington County Sheriff did not know about the operation until after it had begun.

A U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore sentenced a Hagerstown man to serve 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Upon his release, Otha Royal Palmer, 58, formerly of 157 S. Potomac St. Apt. 2, also will have to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, works and/or attends school, according to a Department of Justice news release and U.S. District Court documents. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Palmer on Tuesday as part of a plea arrangement, the release said.

Hagerstown Community College and local law enforcement officials have been talking about starting a police academy on the HCC campus for four years. Those talks will come to fruition March 18, when the first class is scheduled to begin. John King, a 30-year-veteran of law enforcement who has served with police departments in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, and most recently as chief of the Gaithersburg Police Department, has been tapped as the instructor for the six-month course.

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.