The candidates for county sheriff in the Nov. 3 general election differ on key issues, such as implementing central booking, unifying the drug task force and moving toward a countywide police force.

Democrat Mervin L. Spiwak and Republican Kenneth L. Tregoning are career law-enforcement officers with more than 30 years of experience.

Spiwak retired with the rank of major from the Baltimore City Police Department. Tregoning is a lieutenant and commander of the Frederick barracks of the Maryland State Police. He formerly commanded the Westminster barracks.

Spiwak, a newcomer to the county, would move forward with careful deliberation. Tregoning, a longtime resident who has studied Carroll's law-enforcement practices, would likely move forward more quickly.

If elected, both candidates said last week that they would take a brief period to evaluate staff, operations and budget before making changes. Both favor an immediate inventory, an audit and an evaluation of the detention center expansion under construction.

The 100-bed addition to the jail is scheduled for completion in the spring.

Both would review all detention center policies and procedures and examine the requirement that inmates wear black-and-white striped uniforms and hats.

"Prisoners should be identifiable by their clothing," Tregoning said. "Whether it should be the current uniform or a one-piece jumpsuit, I haven't decided."

Spiwak said he favors a two-piece pajama-type outfit for inmates, preferably color-coded so an inmate could quickly be identified as a trusty, someone awaiting trial or someone serving a sentence.

Both said abandoning the striped uniforms may be governed by practical considerations, cost and the life expectancy of the material.

Jail policies

Tregoning would seek more training for correctional officers and make certain that a nurse is on duty at night to dispense medications.

"You need a trained professional to make sure prisoners receive and actually take their prescribed medication," he said, referring to an attempted suicide at the county jail in June, when an inmate hoarded medication and took a near-lethal dose.

Spiwak was less specific but emphasized that he would review all jail policies.

The contrast between the two candidates stands out in their attitude and approach toward the drug task force, a central booking facility and the future of county law enforcement.

Spiwak said he would prefer sitting down with all parties before committing his office to joint ventures with other agencies, such as the task force and central booking.

Spiwak said he would want to have answers to his questions, such as cost, insurance and liability, before agreeing to assign deputies to a drug task force.

"What has the state police task force done recently?" he asked. "I've read about a recent drug bust where 21 pounds of marijuana were seized, but I believe local officers discovered that and called in the task force.

"Central booking? It works, but Baltimore City has had a lot of problems with it.

"Would we have the space and sufficient staff to make it work here? I would want to find out everything I could before deciding."

Tregoning said he would seek to bolster cooperation with the state police, including assigning two deputies and a police dog to the task force within 90 days of taking command Dec. 7.

The sheriff's office supported the task force before lame-duck Sheriff John H. Brown withdrew his deputies and formed his four-man task force. He scrapped that unit this year, citing an increased need for courthouse security.

Central booking

Tregoning said he has witnessed the success of centralized booking in Frederick County.

In Carroll County, when an arrest is made by state troopers or municipal officers, a prisoner is returned to that agency for fingerprinting, photographing and processing. The prisoner then must be transported to the District Court commissioner for a bail hearing, and if necessary, taken to the jail to be incarcerated.

"That takes about 2 1/2 hours on the average," Tregoning said. "With a central booking agency at the jail, the arresting officer would need about 20 minutes to complete paperwork after bringing in a prisoner and could go back on the street."

With an estimated 3,500 annual arrests countywide, that would mean a gain of about 7,000 hours each year for public safety, Tregoning said.

"Figuring each officer works about 2,080 hours a year, that's an equivalent of hiring 3 1/2 more officers without additional cost to the taxpayers," he said. "It's a tremendous advantage and so much more efficient."

Spiwak is more skeptical.

"It takes longer to do the paperwork," he said. "Baltimore City counted on getting officers back on the street quickly, but it hasn't worked out as well as they had hoped."

While the candidates agree that the role of the sheriff's office is to support the Resident Troopers Program of the Maryland State Police, the county's primary law-enforcement agency, they disagree on the long-term future of policing the county.

Future of office

"If voters elect someone who doesn't work out, they've got to wait four years to do something about it," Spiwak said. He is in favor of a countywide agency led by an appointed chief.

Tregoning said he foresees no change in Carroll's method of policing for at least five to 10 years.

"I served on two police studies -- in 1990 and 1992 -- and both favored keeping the Resident Troopers Program as long as it remains cost-efficient," he said.

The studies looked at two options for the Resident Troopers Program: expanding the role of the Sheriff's Department or creating a countywide force.

"The studies showed that creating a county police force was the most expensive option," he said.

Having the County Commissioners appoint a police chief could give local government officials leverage over the top law-enforcement officer, which doesn't happen with an elected sheriff, he said.

In unseating Brown in the Sept. 15 Republican primary, Tregoning, 54, of Union Bridge spent about $18,000 on signs and advertising, running a solid three-month campaign.

Brown spent about double on his campaign, but Tregoning captured nearly twice the votes, winning by a 30-percentage-point margin.

Spiwak, 59, of Westminster was unopposed in the primary. He DTC didn't run a campaign -- there was one bumper sticker on his wife's station wagon -- and didn't spend any money, he said. He received more than 5,000 votes.

Police careers

Tregoning, who has lived in Carroll County for about 27 years, moved through state police ranks, commanding four barracks. He has held several administrative posts, and led planning and research efforts for the state police superintendent.

Spiwak retired in 1994 from the Baltimore agency, where he worked on the street, in traffic and records divisions, and commanded the Central and Southern districts.

"Commanding a district in the city is like being a chief of police or running a sheriff's office," he said. "You see and oversee everything. My first day as commander at the Central District, we had a fire bombing and two people were killed just before I arrived at work."

After retiring, Spiwak moved to Florida, but returned about a year ago to be near his grandchildren. He took a job in June as a District Court commissioner but left after a month to run for sheriff.

"You can't work for the District Court and run for political office," he said, explaining his sudden departure.

Spiwak said he realizes that he's at a disadvantage in Carroll, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly 8,600. Tregoning ran as a Democrat in 1994 and lost to Brown by 2,300 votes.

He attributes his primary victory to a well-organized political work force that has taken his campaign door-to-door, striving to reach the county's nearly 42,000 Republican voters.

Tregoning said he switched parties after the 1994 election because the Republican Party is more in line with his personal philosophy and family values.

Pub Date: 10/04/98