For more than 30 years, state troopers have served as the main police force for Carroll County.
But the county sheriff says hiring more deputies to replace the 45 troopers in the resident trooper program would improve policing and save money.
Under a contract, the county pays the troopers about $500,000 a year more than it pays for its 70 sheriff?s deputies, according to county documents.
“The county has changed over the last 30 years and continues to change,” Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning said. “Law enforcement hasn?t kept up.”
In the 1980s and early ?90s, three task forces explored whether to keep the trooper program, with at least one suggesting it be abolished.
In the spring, county commissioners decided to convene a group to look into “the future of law enforcement” in the county, said Stephen Powell, county chief of staff.
That has been put on hold until MarylandState Police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan, who took office in June, can weigh in, Powell said.
Sheridan said he wants to continue the resident trooper program.
“He has every intention of continuing to provide the services to the community,” said Sgt. Russ Newell, spokesman for state police. “The city appears to be satisfied with the services.”
When the program was created, it was to reduce cost, because the state paid for 25 percent, Tregoning said.
And past sheriffs were not willing to take on the responsibility of becoming the primary police agency, but after adding about 30 deputies in the last eight years, Tregoning believes he is ready.
Resident trooper program
Carroll pays about $5 million a year for state police services, including $1 million for administrative costs. The resident trooper program is the largest such program in the nation and the oldest in Maryland.
