Police Academy

Maryland State Police Trooper First Class Michael D. Kretzer of the Hagerstown Barracks was named 1998 Trooper of the Year on Friday. Kretzer, 50, of Sharpsburg, said he was surprised and flattered Friday during an awards ceremony at Maryland State Police headquarters in Pikesville, Md., where the announcement was made. "I had no idea that I was going to receive this," Kretzer said Friday. Kretzer said he has received countless awards and mementos during his 21-year career with the state police, but this was the first time he was named Trooper of the Year by the state police superintendent.

Troopers' education is a priority By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer Maryland State Police Trooper George Fockler did not give much thought to higher education when he graduated from Clear Spring High School in 1985. But after a stint in the Armed Forces, Fockler said he found himself with military-sponsored college fund. So the Williamsport resident began taking courses at Frostburg State University's Hagerstown campus in 1989, balancing his time between homework and enforcing the law. It's been tough, Fockler said.

Sarah Faith knew by the time she was in second grade that she wanted to be a cop. Inspired by her father, a 24-year veteran of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Faith recalled an assignment in second grade for which she and her classmates were to draw what they wanted to be when they grew up. For the assignment, Faith drew a picture of herself as a police officer with a bloodhound. Over time, her fascination with police work grew. Danny Faith, a sergeant with the sheriff’s office, recalled how his daughter always wanted to go to work with him and how she was fascinated with a bloodhound he used on the job. When Danny Faith graduated from a police academy in Frederick, Md., a picture was snapped with a 3-year-old Sarah beaming as she sat on her father’s knee.

Editor's note: This is the seventh in a series of occasional Sunday stories about local recruits in the Western Maryland Police Training Academy. Leading up to graduation this month, The Herald-Mail will introduce readers to the eight recruits and the tasks they face on the road to earning badges. julieg@herald-mail.com The "bad guy" got out of the car and slowly turned around, holding his shirt up with one hand so the "police officers" could tell if there was a gun in his waistband.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com Sometime later this summer or in early fall, parts of the Waynesboro Police Department will move upstairs in the Borough Hall into small offices being vacated by Magisterial District Judge Larry Pentz. It's only a stopgap move for a police department that has long since outgrown its first-floor quarters. It also will mean that Chief Ray Shultz will have a private office. He and his secretary now share the same office. The new space upstairs also will mean private office space for the department's criminal investigator.

Applications will be gathered at the end of the week from Waynesboro police officers who want to be the department's new chief. "We will distribute the compiled applications and then the council will determine who to interview," Borough Manager Lloyd Hamberger said. The Waynesboro Borough Council, which would like to promote from within, will send its pick to the three-person Civil Service Commission for an exam to make sure the person is qualified for the position, he said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The proposed 2007 budget for Chambersburg called for two more police officers, but Chief Michael T. DeFrank asked the Borough Council on Monday night to add three officers next year and six more over the following three years. More than three hours into the meeting, the council had yet to begin discussion on preliminary approval of the 2007 budget, but DeFrank's request earlier in the meeting got a sympathetic hearing from several council members. DeFrank said a study of the department's manpower needs concluded that five officers should be added between 2007 and 2010, but it did not address the upcoming retirements of three patrol sergeants by 2013.

W.Va. officers honored By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer, Martinsburg photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Thirteen law enforcement and rescue personnel were honored by the Martinsburg Elks Lodge 778 during a Law and Safety Day ceremony Sunday night. They were honored for activities ranging from zealous prosecution of drug offenders and violent criminals, to saving the life of a fellow police officer, providing secretarial and custodial backup to police operations and going well beyond the call of duty to help keep the community safe.

By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer, Charles Town CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Charles Town Police Capt. Louis Brunswick is retiring after 24 years of police work. "I enjoyed working for Charles Town. I enjoyed working for the citizens of Charles Town very much. They let me protect and serve their city for 24 years," Brunswick said Tuesday. His last day at the department is Sept. 29. He is believed to be the highest ranking black police officer in the tri-state area and for years headed the Charles Town Police Department until Mike Aldridge was hired as police chief earlier this year.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Lt. Gerald Smith missed the day-to-day excitement of running a police station when he asked for a transfer to the Chambersburg barrack of the Pennsylvania State Police. Smith has 30 years of experience with the state police under his belt, most recently serving as patrol section commander for Troop H in Harrisburg, Pa., for 14 months. However, that administrative role took him out of the duties he'd grown accustomed to in his earlier police work, including nine years as station commander at the York, Pa., barrack.