baltimoresun.com

By Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun …

1:55 PM EST, February 21, 2012

The Towson Social Security office will move on March 6 to 28 Allegheny Ave., the Social Security Administration said Tuesday.

The current location, 110 West Road, will close at 3 p.m. March 2. No service will be available on Monday, March 5.

Office hours at the new location, which officials said is more convenient to public transportation, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and free parking is available on the fifth floor of the Washington Avenue parking garage.

Officials said many services — such as those offered to people applying for benefits, replacing a Medicare card or obtaining a proof-of-income letter — are offered online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov and do not require a visit to an office.

Lorraine.Mirabella@baltsun.com

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun

By Peter Hermann

3:02 PM EST, February 21, 2012

After a delay that only lasted a weekend, a Baltimore County police sergeant can resume sending out weekly crime reports to Towson-area residents. As we reported this morning, Sgt. Stephen Fink had said last week that his emails had been suspended pending review.

People were worried that the department was cancelling the helpful guide altogether, hinting at a time two years ago when police commanders became irate because not only were citizens getting the information, but so too were the media.

Elise Armacost, a county police spokeswoman, said in an email to me that the review as sparked by concern from some investigators that too much detail was being released too soon. I hope that the practice by Fink will be expanded.

Here’s the latest from Elise Armacost:

“We’ve been talking for some time about how to improve and expand precinct-level communications — not scale them back.
 
“You are right, there is nothing wrong from a public information standpoint with the White Marsh precinct crime report that you published today. We know that citizens want and deserve current information about local crime, and we want all of our captains to provide it.
 
However, as is often the case, the devil is in the details. We have concerns about precincts providing details with the potential to compromise open investigations, especially investigations handled by the CID, Criminal Investigation Division, (as opposed to by the precincts themselves).”

In any event, Fink says he’s back. I’m not sure whether some crime information is being withheld at the request of the Criminal Investigation Division, but I hope not. Residents deserve to know when a burglar is on the loose in their neighborhood.

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun

baltimoresun.com

by Jon Meoli, jmeoli@tribune.com

10:55 PM EST, February 21, 2012

A bill that would give Baltimore County an elected school board was held back from a vote Tuesday, Feb. 21, in a meeting of the county’s Senate Delegation in Annapolis, but State Sen. Bobby Zirkin and Jim Brochin are optimistic that change is on the horizon.

“The County Executive (Kevin Kamenetz) is trying to put pressure on people, but eventually, whether it’s now, next year, whenever,” said Zirkin, a Democrat from District 11. “As you’ve seen around the world, you can’t keep democracy back. Whether it’s now or some other time, this is clearly extremely popular among our constituents.”

Last week, Kamenetz came to Annapolis asking legislators not to pass the bill. In a hearing before the Senate’s before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee, Kamenetz noted the ongoing search for a replacement for Superintendent Joe Hairston, who is retiring at the end of the school year, and said the board should remain appointed while that process is going forward.

Sen.J.B. Jennings, a Republican senator from District 7 who is co-sponsoring the bill, motioned to hold the bill back from a scheduled vote Tuesday because of ongoing questions he has heard.

But Zirkin said the reason for the holdup was Kamenetz, who the senator said is “having people call around because he wants to maintain his power base on the school board.”

During last week’s hearing, Kamenetz also said the bill, which would create nine school board districts from which members would be voted, was not well thought out.

In response, Zirkin said he thought the county executive’s comments were “shocking” and “almost amusing.”

“His arguments are ridiculous,” Zirkin said. “It’s always something. Last year, (it was) ‘oh, we need to study this, let’s have a task force.’ Right now, it’s ‘oh, it’s so challenging.’ We’ve been having this conversation for five years, and it’s always some excuse. Eventually, democratic principles will win out.”

Brochin, the Democratic senator from Towson’s 42nd District, believes “eventually” could be as soon as this year, though he’s uncertain if senators want a fully elected board or a “hybrid,” in which some members would be elected, others appointed.

This year’s version of the school board reform bill calls for a fully elected board as opposed to a hybrid, which previous versions of the bill had considered. At last week’s hearing, Zirkin said the change this year was at the insistence of the county’s House delegation, and Brochin said they’ve “been pretty uncompromising.”

“There’s definitely the votes there to change the status quo,” Brochin said. “The question is to what? The bigger question is if we pass a hybrid board — which is my preference because I like checks and balances — will the house cave and support a hybrid?”

‘The land that time’s forgotten’

Several other bills were held from a vote on Tuesday, including one that would send the county’s ongoing debate over air conditioning in schools to a task force, and another that deals with liquor board reform.

The liquor board reform got particularly contentious between a representative from the beverage industry and the county administration, and Zirkin said such debates have been par for the course this session.

“We’re one of the fraction of school systems around the country that doesn’t have any democracy whatsoever, we criminalize work on Sundays, and now we’re having massive fights on liquor bills,” he said. “One senator described Baltimore County as the land that time’s forgotten in this session, and it’s true.”

The Sunday reference comes from Zirkin’s own bill that would legalize the sale of cars on Sunday in Baltimore County. Currently, car sales are prohibited in the county on Sundays, although some neighbor jurisdictions don’t have that restriction.

“It’s OK in Howard County,” he said. “Apparently, that’s not a crime, but if you’re over the border in Catonsville, you’re a criminal. It’s literally a crime for someone to sell a car,” Zirkin said.

“At the end of the day, it’s not funny. It’s embarrassing, actually, that people are describing Baltimore County that way.”

baltimoresun.com

By Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun

10:09 PM EST, February 21, 2012

The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation of possible racial discrimination in hiring at the Baltimore County police and fire departments, according to correspondence between the agency and the county.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division recently sent a two-page letter asking the county for “more information regarding the hiring of African Americans.” Specifically, the agency asked about entry-level hiring at the two departments to help it “fully evaluate whether or not the County is in violation.”

The letter, headed “Investigation into the Employment Practices of Baltimore County, MD,” mentions a section of the Civil Rights Act barring discrimination based on race, gender, religion or ethnicity.

The Department of Justice has a policy of not confirming investigations, and offered no comment on the letter. County officials declined to comment on the investigation, but County Executive Kevin Kamenetz acknowledged receiving the federal notice in a 10-page letter he sent last week to U.S. Rep.Elijah E. Cummings detailing the county’s efforts to hire and promote minorities.

The Justice Department letter, dated Jan. 30, marks the third time since the late 1970s that the agency has investigated discrimination in county hiring. It comes as the Justice Department is also looking into claims by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission that the county repeatedly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In 1998, the Justice Department opened an investigation of racial discrimination in the fire department a year after a black firefighter found a noose hanging with his work gear. In 1979 and 1980, the county settled a suit filed by the Justice Department, agreeing to an array of goals for hiring women and minorities in all departments, including police and fire.

In his letter to Cummings, Kamenetz detailed long-range police and fire department goals and said the county had been making progress. He emphasized that promoting diversity in the two agencies “has been a long-standing priority” for his and previous administrations.

While he acknowledged that women and minorities have been “underrepresented” in the fire department and in some sections of the police department, he also noted some successes. Since 2007, he said, the growing police department has gained 13 percent more minorities and less than a half of one percent more white members.

Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, met recently with leaders of organizations of African-American members of both the police and fire departments, who told him their complaints about minority hiring, according to the correspondence obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

“We’re very much underrepresented in this department at every level,” Fire Specialist Irvin Lewis, president of the Guardian Knights organization and a 29-year county firefighter, said on Tuesday. He praised his department’s work fighting fires, but he said the agency has not done as well bringing in African-American members.

“It appears that in the past, diversity was not a priority in the fire department,” said Lewis, adding that he was more optimistic that something would be done under the new administration. He said Cummings “appeared to be very interested in hearing about the lack of minorities in the fire department.”

After his meeting with Lewis and police Sgt. Orlando Lilly of the Blue Guardians, Cummings wrote to the county in January with questions about the police and fire departments’ minority hiring efforts. A copy of Cummings’ letter was not available on Tuesday, and the congressman could not be reached for comment, but Kamenetz included some of the questions about planning and progress in his response.

Elise Armacost, a spokeswoman for the county police and fire departments, said because there have been so many retirements from both agencies recently in response to a county buyout program, up-to-date numbers on the percentage of minorities in each department could not be made available Tuesday.

Lewis estimated that roughly 10 percent of about 1,000 professional firefighters — not including volunteers — are African-Americans. According to the 2010 census, African-Americans make up 26 percent of the county’s population.

arthur.hirsch@baltsun.com

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun

baltimoresun.com

By John Fritze and Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun

9:48 PM EST, February 21, 2012

WASHINGTON —

A controversial program that lets U.S. immigration officials check the citizenship status of people who have been arrested is being expanded to include Baltimore despite objections from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and immigrant advocates.

The Secure Communities program, which began in 2008 and is being phased in nationwide, lets federal immigration officials review fingerprints collected when people are booked. The review will start in Baltimore and Montgomery County on Wednesday, according to a Department of Homeland Security letter obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

The decision prompted an outcry from some local officials, who have little control over the process and complained about a lack of notification from the federal government. Immigrant advocates and officials in other states have argued that the program hurts the relationship between Hispanic communities and police, making it harder to solve crimes in those neighborhoods.

The move comes as Rawlings-Blake has made it a priority to increase the city’s population by 22,000 people — or 3.5 percent — over a decade, in part by courting foreign-born residents.

“I am extremely disheartened by this recent decision to implement the program in Baltimore and the manner in which it is being carried out,” Rawlings-Blake wrote in a recent letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton.

Supporters counter that it is reasonable to check the residency status of someone arrested for a crime, particularly given the Obama administration’s focus on deporting illegal aliens accused of committing other crimes.

State Del. Pat McDonough, a Baltimore County Republican who supports the Secure Communities program, said it has value in addition to identifying illegal immigrants. “A number of offenders have been released on bail and fled,” he said, adding that under the program, they would instead be turned over to immigration officials. “It’s a victory for public safety and it’s a victory for victims.”

In a statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the program “has demonstrated its effectiveness in transforming immigration enforcement to a focus on criminal offenders” and that in two years time it has “dramatically increased the removal of convicted criminals.”

Because the change involves sharing of information between two federal agencies, local officials and those arrested will notice no difference when the program takes effect. Local jail officials already send fingerprints to the FBI. Under the program, the FBI transmits those fingerprints to Homeland Security, which checks them against its own database.

Local Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are notified if something looks awry in that check.

Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center is run by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. A spokesman, Mark Vernarelli, confirmed the state agency received notification of the change from the Homeland Security Department, but said it “doesn’t change anything that we do.”

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, said, “It’ll be business as usual.”

The effort, already under way in other Maryland counties, has resulted in 162,940 deportations nationwide and 670 from the state since 2008, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data. The agency expects to have every jurisdiction in the nation under the program by the end of 2013.

Immigrant advocates such as Casa de Maryland say the program is frequently scooping up for deportation illegal immigrants who have committed only minor offenses. In Maryland, 25 percent of those deported were convicted of felonies, according to the government data.

The rest had misdemeanor records, overstayed a visa or disobeyed a previous deportation order.

“There are millions of children in the United States right now — many of whom are citizens — who are at risk of becoming orphans” because of the program, said Casa de Maryland’s organizing director, Gustavo Andrade.

Casa de Maryland will hold a series of events Wednesday to “call on our leaders here in Maryland to try to do everything in their power to mitigate the terrible effects,” Andrade said.

The federal program began under President George W. Bush but has expanded under President Barack Obama. The expansion comes at the same time that the Obama White House has given immigration prosecutors more latitude to suspend deportation cases in situations where an illegal immigrant has not committed a crime and has a strong connection to the community.

Baltimore was one of two pilot cities in which prosecutors conducted an expedited review of backlogged immigration cases to determine which could be suspended.

The Secure Communities program has met with resistance in other states. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, said last year that he was withdrawing from the program, but federal officials insist that participation is mandatory.

People arrested in Prince George’s County have been reviewed under the program since 2009. Scott Peterson, a spokesman for County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, said it “has been a controversial program in the county and the Baker administration has continued to [study] our legal options.”

In Baltimore, Rawlings-Blake met with ICE officials last year to “express our concerns about the program and how it would impact Baltimore’s immigrant communities” and wrote in the letter that she had been assured the agency would not begin implementation before holding discussions with local immigrant groups.

The mayor said she was taken by surprise when a “junior staff member” received an e-mail last week notifying the city of the decision to start the program on Wednesday.

“We recognize that the City of Baltimore plays no role in the implementation of the program,” she wrote, “and I have no control over ICE’s actions.”

Baltimore Sun reporter Steve Killer contributed to this article

john.fritze@baltsun.com

julie.scharper@baltsun.com

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun

~~~~~~~~~~

… Say what? …

~~~~~~~~~~

baltimoresun.com

By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun

9:14 PM EST, February 21, 2012

Transgender people would be protected from discrimination in Baltimore County under a measure approved by the County Council Tuesday, making the county the fourth local government in Maryland to adopt such protections.

Council members did not add a heavily debated amendment proposed last week that would have specifically exempted bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms. Instead, the council left the bathroom issue open to interpretation in the legislation, amending the measure so that the protections do not apply to “distinctly private or personal” facilities.

The council approved the legislation 5-2, along party lines. Republicans Todd Huff of Lutherville and David Marks of Perry Hall voted against the measure. Marks had previously said he would support the bill.

“I want all Baltimore Countians to have equal access to those opportunities that make them more productive citizens, but upon further reflection, I don’t know if there are already protections under the law,” Marks said in a statement released after the vote. “I continue to have questions about the legislation, and would prefer for the state to act first on this issue.”

Opponents of the bill have said it would lead to men dressed as women assaulting females in restrooms, though critics could not point to any specific incidents in places that have transgender anti-discrimination laws.

The vote followed a series of heated public meetings that started last month, when Catonsville Democrat Tom Quirk introduced the legislation. The bill will add both gender identity and sexual orientation to the county’s existing anti-discrimination laws, which protect people in the workplace, housing, finance and public accommodations.

“Everyone deserves to be treated fairly,” Quirk said before he and is colleagues voted. “This bill is a human rights bill, and I’m proud of Baltimore County tonight.”

The council’s approval comes nearly a year after the high-profile attack on Chrissy Lee Polis, a transgender woman who was viciously beaten last April when she tried to use the restroom at a Rosedale McDonald’s.

Across the country, more than 160 counties and cities have transgender anti-discrimination laws, as do 16 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay-rights advocacy organization.

In Maryland, Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Howard County have transgender protections.

The vague language added Tuesday about private facilities mirrors provisions in Montgomery and Howard counties’ laws, council members said.

The transgender community is happy with the legislation, and does not oppose the amendment, said Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland.

“There’s nothing in there that makes life any more difficult for transpeople,” she said after the meeting.

Councilman John Olszewski Sr., a Dundalk Democrat, had raised concerns about bathrooms, but said he was pleased with the final version of the legislation.

“Our country has had a history of discrimination, and in my opinion, no one should be discriminated against,” Olszewski said after the meeting.

Supporters of the bill wore purple to the meeting in a show of unity, and some thanked the council after the vote.

“I think what you did tonight was extremely courageous,” said Mara Drummond, a transgender woman who lives in Catonsville. “I know it’s kind of scary going out on a limb, but you did the right thing for people who are least protected in society.”

The bill’s opponents did not publicly address the council after the vote.

Allison Baird, a Catonsville resident who opposes the legislation, said Tuesday evening she was not surprised about the vote. Baird testified at a meeting last week, telling the council she feared that the measure would put women and girls at risk in public bathrooms.

“I kind of figured it would get passed,” said Baird, who attended a rally at Quirk’s office Monday to protest the bill. “I just hope and pray that nobody gets hurt.”

Baird said opponents are already planning to organize a referendum drive to overturn the vote.

“I think the people should have a say, because obviously the councilmen are not listening to what the people want,” she said.

Before voting on the bill, council members adopted an amendment to make it clear that religious institutions are exempt from the requirements.

Another amendment said that employers could still require workers to adhere to “grooming standards,” though the business would still have to let the employee dress consistent with their gender identity.

Also Tuesday, the council tabled a proposal by Marks to have voters decide whether to enact term limits for council members. During his 2010 campaign, Marks had promised to seek term limits. His measure would have put a referendum on the ballot, asking county residents to limit members to three consecutive terms.

Council members also approved legislation by Marks, Quirk and Kenneth Oliver, a Randallstown Democrat, to require the county to post preliminary plans for “planned unit developments” online. Such projects allow developers to get around certain zoning rules if their development offers some community benefit. The legislation is meant to improve transparency in the PUD process. Some county residents have criticized that process, saying communities don’t get enough information on developers’ plans.

alisonk@baltsun.com

Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun

Audio

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein talks about this bill.

Download This File

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein is among the prosecutors urging lawmakers to allow prosecutors to seek shorter sentences in some marijuana possession cases.

Bernstein was in Annapolis Tuesday to testify before the House Judiciary Committee which was considering a bill to allow prosecutors to pursue a maximum 90-day jail term for those convicted of possessing less than 14-grams of marijuana.  Current law calls for a maximum one-year jail term.

Bernstein says the legislation is, “a small thing that would have a large impact.”

Bernstein says the charge with the longer sentence gives defendants the option of moving their case from district court, to a jury trial in circuit court.

Bernstein says that option creates a backlog of cases in circuit courts.

Bernstein says this bill does not weaken the penalties for marijuana possession, noting prosecutors can still seek a marijuana possession charge with a longer sentence.

Bernstein says that this legislation is similar to changes made to the theft statute which was revised several years ago.

Besides Bernstein, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger testified in favor of the bill.

A similar bill is being considered in the Senate.

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… And this will also allow recidivists for get stoned sooner when they are released from their shortened sentence to do it all over again. …

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The D.C. Council has passed a measure banning members from using profanity during public meetings.

The council unanimously approved the resolution without debate Tuesday.

Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown pushed the resolution after D.C. Council members Marion Barry and David Catania got into a profanity-laced shouting match during a retreat last week.

It bars members from using “profane, indecent or abusive language” during meetings.

If a Council member violates the new rules, Brown will be empowered to try to remove that member from the meeting.

Brown says the policy puts into code internal policies he implemented in the fall.

~~~~~~~~~~

… What the @*&#%$%?! …

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February 22, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unions say they are gearing up to spend more than $400 million to help re-elect President Barack Obama and lift Democrats this election year in a fight for labor’s survival.

Under siege in state legislatures around the country — and fearing the consequences of a Republican in the White House — union leaders say they have little choice as they try to beat back GOP efforts to curb collective bargaining rights or limit their ability to collect dues.

“People are digging deeper,” said Larry Scanlon, political director of the country’s largest public workers union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “If Republicans take over the presidency, Congress and enough state legislatures, unions will be out of business, pure and simple.”

Scanlon’s union was the biggest overall spender in the 2010 midterm elections, doling out about $93 million to help state and federal candidates, mostly Democrats. This year, AFSCME is expected to spend at least $100 million or more on political action, including television advertising, phone banks and member canvassing. The effort is to help the president, Democrats running for the House and Senate, gubernatorial candidates and key state lawmakers.

With increased spending planned by other labor groups, including the powerful Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, unions are likely to top the $400 million they spent to help elect Obama four years ago.

Not all union expenditures on political action are publicly disclosed, so some numbers are based on self-reporting. But unions have long been known as one of the most reliable supporters of Democratic candidates and their efforts have increased with every election as the threats to organized labor grow.

Unions already spent more than $40 million last year to successfully repeal an Ohio law that restricted collective bargaining rights and to recall lawmakers who backed a similar measure in Wisconsin. They are spending millions more in a bid to recall Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who led the charge to curb public employee union rights as a way to balance the state’s budget.

But unions are being spread thin as they deal with a new wave of measures they say are designed to weaken their clout. Indiana passed a right-to-work measure earlier this month, and Republicans in New Hampshire are pushing a similar bill. Legislatures in Arizona and Utah are weighing measures to limit bargaining rights for their public employees.

“Part of the Republican strategy is to try to bleed us,” said Mike Podhorzer, political director of the AFL-CIO. “There are certainly more union members now who understand the importance of political engagement and are willing to go door-to-door and make phone calls and do campaigns.”

Tim Phillips, president of the conservative anti-tax and anti-regulation group Americans for Prosperity, denied any grand strategy to weaken unions. His group, founded with the support of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, spends millions on anti-Obama and anti-union ads across the country.

“It’s not accurate to say there’s some master plan to drain resources,” Phillips said. “These are genuine public policy efforts.”

But Phillips said he thinks that, for the first time, unions have to confront organized grassroots opposition in a number of states.

“And Americans for Prosperity is absolutely a key component in that,” Phillips said. “The unions have always had the advantage and we are now matching them.”

The stakes are even higher for unions this year, as GOP presidential hopefuls seeking conservative support have made unions a regular punching bag. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says he would support states pursuing right-to-work laws and seek to ban unions from using automatic dues deductions for politics. He would also reverse Obama’s executive order encouraging the use of union labor in large government construction projects.

AFSCME, the 1.6-million member union, started early this year, spending $1 million on television ads during Florida’s GOP presidential primary to weaken Romney, the candidate organized labor presumes will emerge as the Republican nominee.

The SEIU teamed up with Priorities USA Action, the major super PAC backing Obama, to buy ads in Florida and Nevada accusing Romney of flip-flopping on immigration policy. SEIU is the single largest contributor to Priorities USA after making a $500,000 contribution in December.

The 2.1 million-member union is expected to spend at least $85 million to help Obama win, similar to what it spent in 2008, spokeswoman Jennifer Farmer said.

So far, unions are finding a way to pay for all the political spending. Union members are contributing more to political action committees, agreeing to special assessments and spending more time working on political causes.

The AFL-CIO is following a new strategy outlined last summer to contribute less money to specific candidates and spend more on building its infrastructure. The goal is to lay a foundation for year-round mobilization that keeps going in the months following an election. Competing for the union money are the various races, from president to state lawmaker.

“We have to use 2012 not just to win for its own sake, but to use as a springboard for 2014 when the governors in all these states are up,” Podhorzer said.

The new strategy emerged after some unions grew frustrated last year that Democrats in Congress were not doing enough to stand up for labor’s agenda.

The AFL-CIO also started its own labor super PAC, which allows it to raise unlimited amounts of money and mobilize support beyond its traditional base. The new super PAC has already pulled in $3.7 million.

Please Note: This is an Agency-specific recruitment for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The resulting eligible list will be used to fill current and future vacancies Statewide in the Internal Investigative Unit only.  Applicants certified to this list will remain eligible for one year.                            

Current DPSCS employees who meet the minimum qualifications are encouraged to apply. Individuals in these positions located at the Internal Investigation Unit are members of the LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’S PENSION SYSTEM.  

Recruitment For:    Internal Investigation Detective Provisional

#12-3705-901

(Please list both title and announcement number on your application.)

Starting Salary:       $38,594 – $61,427 (Grade 15)

Closing Date:          March 5, 2012

Position Duties:  An Internal Investigation Detective Provisional is the entry level of investigation work involving allegations of misconduct or suspected criminal activity by employees of the Department of Public Safety & correctional Services, adult inmates confined in a correctional facility or any individual that has contact with employees or clients, such as arrestees, detainees, or parolees of the Department. Positions are located throughout the State of Maryland. Assignments require travel and may include overnight stays.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:  High School diploma or G.E.D. certificate acceptable to the Maryland State Board of Education as described in the Police Training Commission regulation.

Experience:   Two years of experience in the criminal justice field as a correctional officer, police officer, or parole and probation agent, federal or state or local law enforcement officer or other related profession.

Notes:  1. The above educational requirement is set by the Police Training Commission in accordance with Article 41, Section 4-201.

2.  Applicants may substitute college education for the required general  experience at the rate of 60 college credits, including at least 15 credits of  criminal justice courses, for up to one year of the required experience.

LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS AND CERTIFICATES:

Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle.  Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE CLASSIFICATION:

Employees must meet the selection standards required and successfully complete the training prescribed by the Police Training Commission for police officers during their probationary period in accordance with Public Safety Article, Section 3-207 of the Annotated Code.  Selection standards for police officer training are listed in detail in the Code of Maryland Regulations Title 12, Subtitle 04, Chapter 01 and include the following:

U.S. Citizenship or Resident Alien status

Must be at least 21 years of age

A complete background investigation

Oral interview

Physical examination

Polygraph and psychological evaluations

2.       Candidates will be given a medical examination to determine their ability to perform job-related functions.  Employees in this classification will be required to bear firearms, and to demonstrate practical knowledge and proficiency in the safe use and care of firearms on a periodic basis.

3.       Employees are subject to call-in on a 24-hour a day basis and will be required to provide the employing agency with a telephone number where they can be reached, and carry telecommunications devices supplied by the agency.

4.       Employees in this classification are subject to substance abuse testing in accordance with Code of Maryland Regulations 06.01.09, 12.04.01 and Police Training Commission General Regulation .01-1, Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs.

SELECTION PROCESS:

Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will be admitted to the examination for this classification.   Successful candidates will be ranked as BEST QUALIFIED, BETTER QUALIFIED, or QUALIFIED and placed on the employment (eligible) list for at least one year.

BARGAINING UNIT STATUS:  The incumbent in this position is a member of a covered bargaining unit and will be required to pay a bi-weekly service fee to the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit.

TO APPLY:                                

Applications will be evaluated based on the materials submitted in relation to the above position responsibilities and requirements.  Therefore, it is important to provide complete and accurate information.  Please include the title of the position for which you are applying, as well as the announcement number, on your State application (MS-100).  All applications must be received or mailed by the closing date. Applicants who possess current police certification should include that information on their application.

Mail State Application (MS-100 Form) to:

MD Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services

Recruitment & Examination Unit

6776 Reisterstown Road, Suite 309

Baltimore, MD 21215-2342

ATTN: KSEYM

Application forms (MS-100) may be obtained from any Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services facility or by calling (410) 585-3060, toll free 1-877-206-9941, or downloaded from www.dbm.maryland.gov.

Issued  2/2012/kls Project #12-3705-901    

Equal Opportunity/ADA Employer