For months, Carroll County?s sheriff had no doubt about it: He?d hire more deputies to police the county as it scaled back patrols by state troopers.
Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning was wrong, caught off guard when commissioners voted to phase out troopers? patrols, cut the role of the sheriff?s office and form a countywide police department.
Tregoning said Steven Powell, the county?s chief of staff, had told him several times that the sheriff?s office would be expanded by 15 deputies a year as the county gradually disbanded the Resident Trooper Program, in which state police patrol Carroll.
But Tregoning, like residents, said he?s irked the commissioners made the decision without a public hearing.
In contrast, a commissioners board comprising other members had at least seven public hearings a few years ago before enacting a county noise ordinance.
Tregoning says that the of hearings should have set a precedent.
“That?s a noise complaint,” he said. “This is a matter of life and death, and they excluded the public. Now you tell me that doesn?t show a lack of concern and a lack of leadership.”
The sheriff said he had requested money for 15 additional positions in next year?s budget to replace the15 troopers who were to be moved out of the county.
Commissioners say they have been considering the future of policing for several years. They say they knew a change had to be made because they were paying too much for 45 troopers to patrol the county in the last Resident Trooper Program in the state.
Commissioners have agreed to hold a hearing next week at which residents can voice their opinions.
The county?s state delegation could override the commissioners? vote to create a county police force by allowing voters to decide in a referendum.
The commissioners sent delegation members a letter Wednesday asking them to wait until the public hearings before introducing legislation needed for the referendum.
