Leggett's proposed police merger draws opposition

County Executive Ike Leggett is recommending merging the county's park police force, which has about 90 officers, its own dispatch unit, and is responsible for policing 10 percent of county land, into the larger county police department. Leggett said the move would save the county $2 million for the next fiscal year, which starts in July. But the move is facing stiff opposition from the Montgomery side of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which oversees the police force.

"This proposal is not about saving money," said Royce Hanson, county planning board chairman, in a letter to the County Council. "This is another attempt by [Leggett] to wrest power over the park system and park land."

Park officials stressed that the park police is a specialized unit best equipped to handle park-specific issues, like controlling the deer population, backwoods patrolling, and deterring gang activity in parks. Without those officers, park officials said, the county's well-used parks will suffer.

"Safety in parks will suffer, I can guarantee you that," said Montgomery Park Police Chief Darien Manley. He said a similar consolidation in Baltimore had led to a drop in safety in the city's parks. SOURCE: Washington Examiner

Montgomery County police identify officer killed in crash

Montgomery County police have identified an officer who was killed when his patrol car struck a tree while responding to a call. Police say Officer Hector Ayala, a seven-year veteran of the department, died Sunday. They say Ayala was on his way to the scene of a fight after another officer called for backup. Ayala's police cruiser ran off the road and hit a tree in Wheaton. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Detectives investigating the crash are asking for tips from anyone who was at the scene. Gov. Martin O'Malley has ordered the Maryland state flag be flown at half-staff in honor of Ayala. The flag will remain at half-staff until sunset on the day of his burial, which has not been set. Ayala is survived by his wife, who is pregnant with triplets, and a son. SOURCEBaltimore Sun

Montgomery officers' gun purchases are subject of federal probe

A Montgomery County tuition-assistance program that allowed police and other law enforcement officials to purchase sharply discounted firearms for their own use has prompted a federal investigation, a senior county official said Thursday. There is "now an ongoing criminal investigation related to this program," said Timothy L. Firestine, Montgomery's chief administrative officer. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said federal authorities have shown interest in the gun transactions and how the firearms were valued.

Firestine discussed the investigation at a contentious session Thursday before members of the Montgomery County Council, who met to discuss a county inspector general's report. The report found that lax oversight had allowed 216 Montgomery law enforcement employees to purchase rifles or Glock semiautomatic pistols after taking expensive training classes paid for with county tuition-assistance money. Officers would pay $99 for a pistol that retailed for more than $500, and $350 for a rifle that retailed for more than $700, reported the inspector general, Thomas Dagley. Federal investigators appear to be interested in county police officer Aaron Bailey.

Charles Rand, Bailey's attorney, said his client received three federal subpoenas requesting information on companies that Bailey ran that were involved in firearms training. All three subpoenas indicated that the FBI was involved and sought corporate records and data, which were delivered to the U.S. attorney's office in Greenbelt in January, Rand said.

SOURCEWashington Post

Leggett and cops spar over guns, lack of ethics

Montgomery County awarded more than $600,000 in no-bid payments to nine companies that had ties to county police officers and were part of a controversial tuition-assistance program, Montgomery's inspector general said in a report released Monday.

The government provided little oversight for the program and in many cases appeared to have responded to invoices from the companies simply by cutting checks of as much as $59,800, according to the report. The lack of controls enabled 216 county employees -- police officers, sheriff's deputies and corrections officers -- to take county-funded training classes and, at the end of the courses, purchase deeply discounted guns that one official has called the "candy" to get them to enroll in the first place.

Inspector General Thomas J. Dagley concluded that the close ties among the companies, employees and students enrolled in the classes have "and will continue to expose county taxpayer dollars to waste and abuse until more comprehensive guidelines and monitoring are put in place."

Problems in the tuition program were discovered in July by Sheriff Raymond M. Kight. Two deputies reported that they had attended a two-day firearms training class whose best feature was the deal they could get on a handgun -- $99 for a Glock valued at several times that, Kight said. For fiscal 2009, the county budgeted $775,350 but spent more than $1 million, the report said.