After two tours in Vietnam as a helicopter crew chief and 23 years as a homicide detective, tactical officer and patrolman in Baltimore, Manchester Police Chief Timothy G. Timmons is seldom ruffled.

So the thought of launching the department into the technology age when he became chief in 1997 didn't bother Timmons, though he had little training in computers.

The mayor and Town Council heeded his advice and bought a computer for his department. Timmons read books and used every bit of technical support he could get to computerize agency records and generate reports.

Then, the chief of Carroll's smallest -- soon to be four-member -- municipal police agency went a step beyond.

He became a self-taught Webmaster, producing the Manchester Police Department Web page and going online with a survey for residents to complete.

Timmons' work as a police chief in a tiny but growing town of 3,200 remains low-tech and laid-back, except for his role as Webmaster.

He has taken community policing in Manchester to a new realm with the survey.

"What changes would you like to have the Manchester Police Department make?" reads one question.

The first respondent answered, "Fire 'em all!"

Timmons sat in his office last week, laughing softly as he told the story.

Only a few surveys have been returned, he said. "That's more my fault for not publicizing it," he said.

The town's next monthly newsletter will solve that, he said.

Other survey questions ask : "What do you feel is the greatest problem in your neighborhood?" and "How fearful are you of crime happening to yourself, your family or property?"

"The Web page is just another tool to keep residents informed and help fight crime," Timmons said.

His agency handled 221 calls for service in the first two months of 1999, he said.

Since he arrived, the most serious incident was a 1996 bank robbery.

The investigation was turned over to the Maryland State Police and the FBI, but was solved after a Manchester officer obtained information and passed it on to the FBI, Timmons said.

"We do not have the personnel to get involved in long or complex investigations, even though we could handle them," he said.

Within about 45 days, Timmons will gain some scheduling flexibility with the addition of an officer, who is completing field training.

With three officers to patrol approximately three square miles, Timmons will be better able tojuggle their schedules to keep would-be criminals off guard.

Once central booking is adopted countywide, perhaps within 12 to 18 months, Timmons said, his officers will have even more time to patrol and help develop community policing programs.

Timmons has started a Neighborhood Watch program in Whispering Valley and wants to get a citizens' advisory board in place, but such plans are ambitious for such a small agency.

Timmons said central booking at the county detention center in Westminster, where all Carroll police agencies will take prisoners for processing, will save from two to five hours per prisoner, depending on the complexity of the charges.

If his officers are back on patrol sooner, Timmons can devote more time to his Web page.

"As a crime-fighting tool, computers are still in their infancy stage," he said.

The Manchester Police Department Web page address is: http: //members.aol.com/ mpd21102/manchest.html.

Pub Date: 3/07/99