Law Enforcement

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.

“If they're going to tear down the municipal electric light plant, they need to do away with the dam. The dam is very dangerous. I'm a Hagerstown firefighter.” - Hagerstown “In reference to the article in the paper about this stadium and all, why don't we let that field of dreams go away, and everybody else, and save our money here locally? Let that ball team go somewhere else. We don't need it. And also, all this hoopla about the frustration of land limit, you better do what the state is. You think about suing them, they're going to come back, and we need money.

A rally supporting a stronger anti-bullying law was held Saturday afternoon at the 365 Church on Mid-Atlantic Parkway. Church member Sharon Santamaria organized the event because her daughter is a victim of bullying that occurred in early October. “Nothing was done by school administrators,” Santamaria said. Santamaria said on a Sunday afternoon, her 16-year-old daughter and her friend were walking behind Opequon Elementary School in Martinsburg when five girls and three boys, all about 13 years old, began bullying the two high school students.

Letter writer should be upset with headline   To the editor: I'm hoping the headline on the first letter in the Saturday (Nov. 10) Herald-Mai l was a typo: “County's deal for school land still needs explained.” Needs explained? If I were the writer of that letter, who seems to have crafted a well-thought-out and coherent opinion, I'd be a bit bothered. Steve Specht Brownsville ( Editor's note: The headline to which the letter writer refers appeared in the print edition only)

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.

Several hundred members of area social clubs, veterans groups and nonprofit organizations flocked to the Franklin Fire Company in Chambersburg on Tuesday night hoping to make sense of a revised state gaming law. The Small Games of Chance seminar, hosted by the Franklin Fire Co., was intended to clear up confusion about the recording and reporting process of HB 169, officially known as Act 2 of 2012. Todd Merlina, enforcement officer supervisor with the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, told the crowd that the law is an improvement to the outdated small games of chance law from 1988.

To many people, including teenagers, texting or looking at a phone while driving has almost become second nature. Boonsboro High School senior Elie Nogle said the issue of distracted driving can be personal to her. “I've known people who have died from accidents,” she said. “When we can see things like the graphics of an accident it checks people into reality.” Nogle, 17, president of Boonsboro High's Student Government Association, took part in Tuesday's announcement of the Stay Alive!

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.

The law enforcement division of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office operated over Labor Day weekend without phone service at the agency's headquarters after lightning struck the building, Sheriff Kenneth Lemaster said Wednesday. “This office took a direct hit last Friday,” Lemaster said Wednesday afternoon when phone service was restored. The building's security system was initially disabled by the storm and deputies had to share a key to get into the headquarters as a result, Lemaster said.

A prescription drug turn-in program and other activities will be available to the public this weekend during Law Enforcement Awareness Day at Hagerstown Speedway. Beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday, visitors will be able to participate in a variety of events, including the drug turn-in program, a DUI simulator, a seat belt simulator and a child-identification program. The event is being sponsored by the Hagerstown Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Office and Maryland State Police.