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Sheriff's, State Police Detectives Join Forces
2 Agencies Set Aside Rivalry in New Team
By the old, fiercely territorial rules of St. Mary's County police work, it was clear who should investigate the burglary of Four Star Pizza in Leonardtown -- sheriff's deputies were first on the scene, so sheriff's detectives would try to solve the case.
But when an informant called to name suspects in the June 28 burglary, the case was handed over to Maryland State Police Trooper 1st Class Robert Riley. A sheriff's detective, Clay Safford, took a secondary role.
The cooperative effort -- once a rarity for two agencies that had testy relations in the late 1990s -- is now the norm, police officials said this week. The sheriff's office and the Leonardtown state police barrack merged their separate detective units this month into one team, tentatively called the St. Mary's County Criminal Bureau of Investigation.
Riley and Safford solved the new bureau's first case quickly, arresting two suspects on charges of second-degree burglary. They drew up warrants together, executed a search of a Leonardtown home and found two safes and money stolen from Four Star Pizza.
The new bureau of 13 detectives and six supervisors has solved several other cases, including an armed robbery last week.
And, with deputies and troopers working side by side and sharing information, law enforcement officials said crime trends are being spotted more rapidly, and old cases that have languished may soon be solved.
"The communication level has increased tremendously," Riley said. "There's a lot more talking."
Though rank-and-file deputies and troopers usually work well together, there have long been rivalries between the two department's leaders. In the mid-1990s, for instance, then-Sheriff Richard J. Voorhaar (R) and then-Superintendent David B. Mitchell of the state police clashed over Voorhaar's plan to take over almost all criminal investigations in the county.
"It was a glory issue," current Sheriff David S. Zylak (D) said. "One agency wanted all the glory for making arrests. . . . The bigger picture was lost."
The sheriff's office is the county's primary law enforcement agency, but the state police have maintained a barrack in Leonardtown with criminal investigators since 1951. Detectives used to investigate a case when their agency was the first to arrive at a crime scene.
The separate investigative units sometimes "stepped on each other's toes," said Sgt. Gerald Johnson, who supervises about 10 sheriff's detectives. In many cases, especially narcotics investigations, Johnson said the state police and sheriff's office have investigated the same person or group without talking to each other.
"Then one of us would conduct a raid . . . and all we would do is crush the long-term investigation" for the other department, Johnson said.
The new bureau's detectives will answer to supervisors from both departments. Patches bearing logos for both departments and the bureau's name will be given to each detective so the unit has a "sense of identity," Zylak said.
Citizen complaints against a detective will be reviewed internally by the investigator's agency.
The merger has yet to be approved officially by the current state police superintendent, Col. Edward Norris.
But it took effect for practical purposes July 1, when six detectives from the state police Leonardtown barrack moved their offices down Baldridge Street to the sheriff's department criminal investigations room.
State police Lt. Brian Cedar proposed the idea early this year to Zylak, who campaigned on a pledge to improve cooperation with the state police. Zylak, Cedar and several police officials agreed to the idea after traveling to Dorchester County to see how a similar merger there worked.
Zylak said the state police's wide jurisdiction will make it easier for deputies to make arrests across county borders. And the two agencies will soon have access to each other's computer databases.
"We want this to be a model for the entire state," Cedar said. "If we're not cooperating, the bad guys have a real advantage."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
2 Agencies Set Aside Rivalry in New Team
By the old, fiercely territorial rules of St. Mary's County police work, it was clear who should investigate the burglary of Four Star Pizza in Leonardtown -- sheriff's deputies were first on the scene, so sheriff's detectives would try to solve the case.
But when an informant called to name suspects in the June 28 burglary, the case was handed over to Maryland State Police Trooper 1st Class Robert Riley. A sheriff's detective, Clay Safford, took a secondary role.
The cooperative effort -- once a rarity for two agencies that had testy relations in the late 1990s -- is now the norm, police officials said this week. The sheriff's office and the Leonardtown state police barrack merged their separate detective units this month into one team, tentatively called the St. Mary's County Criminal Bureau of Investigation.
Riley and Safford solved the new bureau's first case quickly, arresting two suspects on charges of second-degree burglary. They drew up warrants together, executed a search of a Leonardtown home and found two safes and money stolen from Four Star Pizza.
The new bureau of 13 detectives and six supervisors has solved several other cases, including an armed robbery last week.
And, with deputies and troopers working side by side and sharing information, law enforcement officials said crime trends are being spotted more rapidly, and old cases that have languished may soon be solved.
"The communication level has increased tremendously," Riley said. "There's a lot more talking."
Though rank-and-file deputies and troopers usually work well together, there have long been rivalries between the two department's leaders. In the mid-1990s, for instance, then-Sheriff Richard J. Voorhaar (R) and then-Superintendent David B. Mitchell of the state police clashed over Voorhaar's plan to take over almost all criminal investigations in the county.
"It was a glory issue," current Sheriff David S. Zylak (D) said. "One agency wanted all the glory for making arrests. . . . The bigger picture was lost."
The sheriff's office is the county's primary law enforcement agency, but the state police have maintained a barrack in Leonardtown with criminal investigators since 1951. Detectives used to investigate a case when their agency was the first to arrive at a crime scene.
The separate investigative units sometimes "stepped on each other's toes," said Sgt. Gerald Johnson, who supervises about 10 sheriff's detectives. In many cases, especially narcotics investigations, Johnson said the state police and sheriff's office have investigated the same person or group without talking to each other.
"Then one of us would conduct a raid . . . and all we would do is crush the long-term investigation" for the other department, Johnson said.
The new bureau's detectives will answer to supervisors from both departments. Patches bearing logos for both departments and the bureau's name will be given to each detective so the unit has a "sense of identity," Zylak said.
Citizen complaints against a detective will be reviewed internally by the investigator's agency.
The merger has yet to be approved officially by the current state police superintendent, Col. Edward Norris.
But it took effect for practical purposes July 1, when six detectives from the state police Leonardtown barrack moved their offices down Baldridge Street to the sheriff's department criminal investigations room.
State police Lt. Brian Cedar proposed the idea early this year to Zylak, who campaigned on a pledge to improve cooperation with the state police. Zylak, Cedar and several police officials agreed to the idea after traveling to Dorchester County to see how a similar merger there worked.
Zylak said the state police's wide jurisdiction will make it easier for deputies to make arrests across county borders. And the two agencies will soon have access to each other's computer databases.
"We want this to be a model for the entire state," Cedar said. "If we're not cooperating, the bad guys have a real advantage."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
