20020811 Law enforcement officers like Carroll

Law enforcement officers like Carroll

By Jamie Schmidt, Times Staff Writer

Click here for more Carroll County News: The Carroll County Times

August 11, 2002

Some say it's the schools. Others say it's aesthetic qualities. For whatever reason, hundreds of police officers who work throughout Maryland have chosen Carroll as home.

Lt. Terry Katz, commander of the Maryland State Police Westminster barrack, said that based on anecdotal evidence, he figures several hundred police officers in Carroll work outside the county.

"There are hundreds, from Howard, Anne Arundel, the FBI, DEA, Baltimore County and Baltimore City, people I see," he said. The state police has 250 officers in Carroll and around 80 of the Westminster barrack's 102 MSP officers live in the county, Katz said.

Cpl. Leonard Mays works at MSP's headquarters in Pikesville and lives in Hampstead. Mays grew up in Anne Arundel County and moved to Carroll in 1984 when he became a resident trooper at the Westminster barrack.

"I live in a rural setting and I like that," Mays said. "The street we live in is a deadend, so we don't have traffic blowing through."

Another officer, Leonard Armstrong, also hopes that Carroll will stay country. Armstrong, captain of the field operations bureau for MSP's Pikesville office, has lived in Silver Run for the last 18 years.

"I have no plans to move," he said. "There is farmland all around me, part of an agriculture preservation program, so there is no chance of major development."

Armstrong said that the lack of violent crime in Carroll is a contributing factor to why he stays. During the first six months of 2001, Carroll had 22 general robberies, Baltimore County had 717, and Baltimore City had 2,814, according to MSP uniform crime report figures. Also in that time, there were no murders in Carroll, 12 in Baltimore County and 137 in Baltimore City.

Armstrong also prefers Carroll's quiet.

"When you live in a big development in Anne Arundel county, you have a marked police car outside, it tends to draw people to the door saying 'I just have a question,' " Armstrong said. "There comes a time when you don't want that. In 18 years [in Carroll], I've had about five people knock on my door."

Major Tom Long with the Carroll County's sheriff's office said that 44 of the sheriff's office's 52 sworn officers live in Carroll, too. Long has lived in Carroll his entire life, even when he worked as an officer in Charles County, St. Mary's County and Queen Anne's County.

"It's an attractive place to live," Long said. "A lot of troopers live here because commuting isn't a problem, especially to Maryland State Police headquarters in Pikesville. And troopers like the education here - a child isn't a number."

Long said that Baltimore County police officers who reside in Carroll have Carroll's radio channel in their police cars so they could act on calls when driving home.

"We are adding all these extra eyes to the county," he said. "When you live in a neighborhood and there is a police car parked there, it enhances your neighborhood's public safety. But one disadvantage is that police officers might see things, but whatever they get involved in, the local municipal officers or troopers have to take care of it."

Long used to live in Westminster and now resides in Union Bridge.

"I live on a farm now and the only people who can see me would have to be in an airplane," he said. "But I have had people come to my house, pre-cell phone days, when there was an accident. I am one of the crazy ones - I am listed in the phone book. A police officer is often tapped for free legal advice."

Lt. Col. William Arrington, chief of the field operations bureau with the Maryland State Police, grew up in Baltimore City but said that when he chose to live in Carroll, he was looking for a better life for himself and his family. Arrington lives in Mount Airy and works at the MSP's Pikesville headquarters.

Arrington doesn't mind his 30-minute commute; he has known officers with hundreds of miles to commute every day.

"In my position, I have responsibility for the entire state," he said. "Anywhere could be home. When I considered places to live, I thought if you are within one hour of your assignment, then you are considered close."

He said that he found a better life for himself in Carroll.

"You have country living with the convenience of a metropolitan area," he said. "I wish there was a way to stop growth, but I don't know if that would be fair. It would be denying folks the same opportunity I was looking for."

©Carroll County Online 2002