For more than three decades, state troopers have patrolled the streets and winding back roads of Carroll County, serving as the primary police agency for the rapidly growing area. For nearly that long, some have explored whether the county should establish its own police force.
Though the county's board of commissioners voted unanimously last fall to do just that, the issue remains anything but settled.
Yesterday, opponents and advocates of the plan testified in Annapolis on a measure that would send the matter to referendum. Among the most prominent opponents is a man with a long history in law enforcement and a strong opinion on how Carroll should be policed: Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning.
"I don't think anyone knows the law enforcement picture in Carroll better than I do," Tregoning told the Senate judicial proceedings committee. "Why a county police force? I don't know."
Tregoning, who has held the elected position of sheriff since 1998, wants his office to be expanded to become the county's lead agency and is among those calling for residents to have a say in its law-enforcement future.
The commissioners, however, envision reducing the 100-member sheriff's department and shifting resources to create a county force led by an appointed police chief.
"We definitely were looking at [the policing issue] in a different point of view," Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge said. "I guess that's all part of the problem. ... It's most unfortunate the way this has become very us and them."
Beyond concern over the mounting cost of the resident trooper program, the commissioners say residents have complained about response time to 911 calls.
Tregoning warns against shrinking the his agency, which supports the troopers. He points to the improvements in and growth of the sheriff's department under his leadership and says it is poised to take on a bigger role.
The commissioners contend that Tregoning's efforts, supported with steady increases in budget and staffing over the years, were meant to provide a foundation for a county force.
"This is not a slap at the sheriff or any of his people," Commissioner Dean L. Minnich said. "It's actually a ringing endorsement, I thought, of what they've done and what they've built."
There also is disagreement about whether an appointed police chief or an elected sheriff is the best choice to head a local force.
"We're a growing county," Gouge said. "More problems are going to occur in the future, and you don't want someone handling it who's going to have to go to an electorate and say, 'Vote me in.'"
Minnich concurs, saying that he doesn't want the politics surrounding an elected position to overshadow the experience and qualifications of a prospective law enforcement leader.
The heated nature of public hearings and meetings on the subject proves their point, the commissioners say.
"These are some of the most political hearings that we've ever had," said Gouge, adding that the past few months have been "politics at its worst."
Tregoning said the nature of his position as an elected official requires that he respond directly to community needs. His office's placement under the judicial branch provides checks and balances to the executive - something an appointed official, beholden to the commissioners, would not be subject to, he said.
"I'm accountable to the people," Tregoning said. "Who does [the police chief] owe his job to? Those who hired him."
Of the nearly 18,000 law-enforcement agencies in the nation, 17 percent - approximately 3,070 - are sheriff's offices, and fewer than 1 percent - nearly 60 - are county forces, according to a 2007 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Most are local police departments, the report states.
"It is the least-used form of policing in the United States," Tregoning said of county police forces.
For the commissioners, who voted in October after a report from a committee of county staff members that looked into various policing options, cost and control are among the primary issues.
They point to the cost of the resident trooper program: $4.9 million in 2007 for 36 troopers and nine investigators assigned to the Westminster barracks. By contrast, $4.3 million was budgeted in the same year for 94 employees in the sheriff's department, including 67 deputies.
Gouge and Commissioner Michael D. Zimmer said discussions with counterparts and law enforcement officials in other jurisdictions revealed the potential for staggering budgets in the future under an independent sheriff.
The board also has no control over the trooper program. State police officials have said they don't foresee being able to allocate more troopers to the program in the future.
The debate has drawn in the county's legislative delegation, which favors giving residents a say in the issue and voted to pursue a bill.
"If it's the right thing to do, the people will support you on it," state Sen. Larry E. Haines said during the hearing yesterday.
The House Environmental Matters Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow.
The commissioners responded to the delegation's intervention by sending a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley last month, calling the proposed legislation "an unwarranted interference into the local statutory authority granted the County Commissioners" and requesting the governor's support in preserving that authority.
"We believe that requiring a binding referendum is an inappropriate interference in the authority reserved for local officials," the letter said.
The governor's office was reviewing the letter as of last month, a spokeswoman said.
If the county proceeds with its plan, it will join Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties as jurisdictions with county forces. In Harford County, the sheriff's office is the lead agency.
"The general public has confidence in the Carroll County sheriff's office as the future primary law enforcement agency. ... I believe a referendum would bear that out," Tregoning said.
arin.gencer@baltsun.com