Howard County Police Chief Wayne Livesay has announced a wave of promotions that will hoist two new captains into the 10-person squad of top officers and promote Capt. William McMahon to major.

Save for Maj. Jeff Spaulding and McMahon, none of those promoted has been on the Howard County Police Department's command staff for more than about six months.

"It's a benefit to have so many new faces on the command staff," said department spokeswoman Pfc. Lisa Myers of the changes in the ranks.

Myers is one of eight officers to move from police officer first class to corporal in this batch of promotions.

McMahon, commander of the Southern District, will move into the second-in-command position July 1, to take over for Maj. Mark Paterni, who recently retired after about 30 years of service.

Former County Executive Charles I. Ecker once considered Paterni for the position of chief but selected Livesay instead.

The department's other major, Spaulding, will shift from operations to administration, which Paterni oversaw, and McMahon will take over Spaulding's former position.

Lt. Stephen Prozeralik will take command of the Southern District when he becomes a captain July 1. It is a position he said he is eager to assume.

"Operations is my first love," he said yesterday.

Now in his 24th year of service, Prozeralik said he never set out to become a captain, opting to work as a detective instead.

He said he spent about 17 years in various detective roles before being moved to the automated enforcement division about a year ago.

"As I saw more and more new people coming in, I knew I wanted to help shape the future of the department," Prozeralik said.

Prozeralik's Northern District counterpart, Capt. Nancy Yeager, promoted in January, graduated from the same academy, he said.

"We're looking forward to working together," he said. One of their mutual goals, he said, is to work more closely with the county's Spanish-speaking community.

Talking to Hispanics

Prozeralik said he plans to reach out to the Hispanic population by sending officers to church services. He recently met with Hispanic church leaders, he said.

"We want to work harder to help them understand what we do," he said. "We want to ease the community's fear of police."

The other soon-to-be captain, Lt. Sandra Regler, has worked in the department's education and training division, a role that Myers said saw her work closely with the chief.

Regler is the second woman in the department's 50-year history to become a captain. Yeager was the first.