Three new troopers, graduates of the 105th Trooper Candidate Class, will begin work in Carroll on Jan. 3, Lt. Bruce Tanner, commander of the Westminster barracks, told the county commissioners Wednesday.
The lieutenant said four additional troopers will be transferred to the barracks on March 1, but that Tfc. Matt Jones, now assigned to Westminster, will be transferred to the Hagerstown barracks.
"The three new troopers will spend eight weeks training with seasoned troopers and, hopefully, will be permanently assigned here," Lieutenant Tanner said."
Barracks troopers have responded to 33,037 calls for service this year, ranging from homicides to burglaries to traffic accidents, the commissioners were told at the quarterly resident trooper meeting.
Crime in the county increased 2.3 percent during the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 1993, but murder, rape, breaking and entering and motor vehicle thefts declined, according to the Uniform Crime Report recently re
leased by the Maryland State Police. Robberies and larcenies increased.
There have been 16 traffic fatalities in the county this year, five of them in alcohol-related incidents, Sgt. Steve Reynolds said. That compares with 23 traffic deaths at this time last year, including 11 alcohol-related deaths.
A sobriety checkpoint, scheduled for Dec. 4 and canceled because of inclement weather, will be rescheduled, Lieutenant Tanner told the commissioners.
The date has not been selected, he said.
Sergeant Reynolds told the commissioners that the State Highway Administration plans to synchronize the six traffic signals on Route 140 between Sullivan Avenue and Malcolm Drive. The lights will be set for 45 mph.
As part of the three-year rotation policy of the Carroll County Resident Trooper program, it is expected that 10 marked patrol vehicles will be replaced as part of the fiscal 1996 contract.
Carroll County pays the total cost of the program, which for fiscal 1995 is expected to be $3.1 million.