Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. pledged yesterday to expand the role of the Maryland State Police by sending troopers to the front lines of the city's battle against crime.
Ehrlich officially announced that Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris will be the next head of the state police, and he vowed to work with Mayor Martin O'Malley to reduce the city's homicide rate and shut its open-air drug markets.
"This is a good thing for troopers and for law enforcement, and it is equally good for Baltimore City," Ehrlich said at a news conference. "Troopers want to do more with regards to our state and most particularly our city."
O'Malley said later yesterday that he welcomed the support, even though he and Ehrlich offered different versions of the mayor's role in Norris' appointment.
During the news conference, Norris sketched a strategy that would amend the job description of state troopers by allowing them to work in Baltimore. Most have no authority in the city - except a few dozen assigned to task forces - and repeated efforts to change that have stalled because of turf battles.
"I don't anticipate them doing traffic work" in the city, Norris said. "What I am looking to do is what you see now [from city police], which is a big presence of both plainclothed and uniformed officers in areas that are most distressed."
The Republican governor-elect also appointed Col. Douglas DeLeaver, chief of the Maryland Transit Administration Police, to lead the Maryland Natural Resources Police.
Ehrlich also named Gary McLhinney, who has led the city police union for the past nine years, commander of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.
Meanwhile yesterday, O'Malley appointed John McEntee, deputy commissioner of operations, the acting police commissioner.
Ehrlich vowed that he and Norris would work closely with the city to accomplish the mayor's crime-fighting goals. But Norris' departure has apparently caused tension between the mayor and the governor-elect.
Ehrlich and Norris said yesterday that O'Malley was involved in the discussions over the police commissioner's departure.
The governor-elect said that O'Malley had "veto power" and that Norris left the city only after the mayor approved the arrangement.
"I want to help the city, not hurt the city," Ehrlich said. "I want to help the mayor, not hurt him, because they are one and the same these days."
But O'Malley, a Democrat widely seen as a possible challenger to Ehrlich in four years, said that the governor-elect never contacted him and that he was never consulted about Norris' plans. O'Malley said Norris broached the subject with him a week ago, but then didn't tell him of the final decision until Wednesday afternoon, after his appointment had been leaked to the news media.
On Tuesday, after not hearing from Norris "for a few days," the mayor called Ehrlich in frustration. That was the only conversation the men had about the topic, O'Malley said.
"My blessing was not sought, nor was it given," O'Malley said. Still, the mayor said he hopes Norris "will be some benefit to the city" in his new role.
Norris said he plans to work with the city Police Department on various crime-fighting initiatives.
Any joint crime-fighting operation between the city and the state would require an agreement giving state troopers arrest powers within the city limits. Such an agreement could occur through a memorandum of understanding or through legislation enacted by the General Assembly.
Del. William H. Cole IV, a Baltimore Democrat, said a bill permitting state troopers to work in the city passed the House of Delegates last year but died in the Senate.
Cole said the restrictions on troopers' authority in the city date back at least a decade.
"Over 100 state troopers live in the city, and they can't use their powers in the jurisdiction in which they live, which seems absurd," Cole said.
Ehrlich, Norris and O'Malley said yesterday that troopers must be granted powers in Baltimore.
"The city has unique and dramatic pressures now," Ehrlich said. "I'm tired as a public official of dealing with the repercussions of drugs."
But the influence that Norris and the state police will have in the city remains to be seen.
O'Malley said he envisions the state police doing "traffic enforcement" and serving on the fugitive task force. The mayor said troopers also could help with anti-terrorism efforts.
Norris appeared to map out a much greater role for the 1,600 troopers he will command.
"I can't see where a big infusion of help from the state couldn't help [bring] crime down further," Norris said, pointing out that crime has dropped 29 percent since he became commissioner in 2000.
City leaders said last night that they generally support using state troopers in the city if their role is limited.
"I don't want some renegade police officers here, but we are at a different day in Baltimore," said Del. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat. "I want to see the crime problem stop."
City Council President Sheila Dixon said she wouldn't want the state police "coming in trying to control" city police.
"It would have to be spelled out very clearly they would only be supporting our Police Department," Dixon said. "I would not like [Norris] to call the shots."
Besides helping the city, Norris said, he would take a leading role in protecting the state from terrorism. He also plans to make the state police more efficient by moving more troopers from desk jobs to the highways.
"No drug dealer, no terrorist, no criminal should think he can drive these days unmolested," Norris said.
Ehrlich also said he is considering consolidating several statewide police agencies.
Until then, DeLeaver will command 290 officers as head of the Maryland Natural Resources Police. DeLeaver, who has been in law enforcement 33 years, spent the first two decades of his career with the state police.
McLhinney, a 22-year veteran of the Baltimore police force, was a strong supporter of Ehrlich during the campaign.
Sun staff writer Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this article.