Saturday, February 7, 2015

December 2, 2014: Jim DeWees Carroll County MD 58th Sheriff


CARROLL COUNTY TO SWEAR IN 58TH SHERIFF FIRST NEW SHERIFF IN 16 YEARS



Westminster – Carroll County will swear in its 58th Sheriff during an inauguration ceremony at Carroll Community College’s Scott Auditorium on Tuesday, Dec 2nd.  Clerk of the Circuit Court, Donald Sealing, will swear in retired Maryland State Police Captain Jim DeWees as the first new Sheriff of Carroll County in 16 years.  Sheriff DeWees won both contested primary and general elections by overwhelming margins to become Sheriff.  He takes over for retiring Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning who was first elected to office in 1998.  Sheriff Tregoning served four consecutive terms and did not seek re-election for a fifth.

Sheriff DeWees was raised in Carroll County and is a 1988 graduate of South Carroll High School in Winfield, Maryland.  He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland and a Masters of Arts degree in Human Resource Development from Seton Hall University in Trenton, New Jersey.  Sheriff DeWees is also a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.

Sheriff DeWees is married with three children who attend Carroll County Public Schools.  His wife of 16 years, Heather, is a teacher for Carroll County Public Schools and the girls’ varsity basketball coach at Manchester Valley High School.  Sheriff DeWees is the second youngest of the six children of Joan and the late Thomas DeWees of Thurmont, Maryland.

Sheriff DeWees retired as a Captain from the Maryland State Police.  His career with the Maryland State Police started after high school when he became a cadet at the age of 18.  Sheriff DeWees rose through the ranks of the Maryland State Police and held numerous operational and command assignments within the organization.  Sheriff DeWees spent the majority of his career as a patrol and investigative trooper, supervisor and barrack commander in Carroll County, assigned to the Westminster Barrack.  Sheriff DeWees was commander of both the Westminster and Golden Ring Barracks, Operations Commander for the Washington Metropolitan Area and ended his 25-year career as the Special Operations Division Commander, overseeing Emergency Operations, K9, S.T.A.T.E. Team and the Motor Unit.  He also served as an instructor at the State Police Academy.  For most of his career, Sheriff DeWees served as an operator, team leader and commander of the Maryland State Police SWAT Team known as S.T.A.T.E.

In 1998, Sheriff DeWees was awarded the Governor’s Citation of Valor after he shot the gun out of a suicidal man’s hand, ending a two-hour standoff in Keymar, Maryland.  He is also a recipient of the Superintendent’s Citation of Valor for his role in ending two separate armed standoffs in 2000 and 2002.  Sheriff DeWees has received numerous awards for excellence in investigations and leadership.

Sheriff DeWees brings a diverse background of law enforcement experience and leadership to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.   Continuing a career of public service, Sheriff DeWees now leads 260 dedicated employees who staff a full service law enforcement agency providing road patrol and criminal investigative services, a detention center, and courthouse security.  Sheriff DeWees considers it one of the highest honors of his career to serve the citizens of Carroll County as their Sheriff.

DeWees appointed Eldersburg resident Larry Suther as Chief Deputy of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.  Suther is a retired major from the Baltimore County Police Department where he spent 38 years working his way through the ranks from cadet to major and retiring as commander of the Special Operations Division.  Suther will hold the rank of Colonel and oversee the operations for the Office.  Colonel Suther has extensive operational, tactical and investigative experience.  Colonel Suther holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Baltimore and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.


DeWees also appointed Manchester resident Vicky McDonold as Director of the Management Services Bureau.  Director McDonold comes to the Sheriff’s Office from the private sector where she was a project manager for Automatic Data Processing (ADP) in Owings Mills.  McDonold holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Towson University in finance and a Master’s Degree from University of Maryland University College in Technology Management.

December 2, 2014 Jim DeWees Carroll County MD 58th Sheriff

+++++++++++++++++





The close working relationship between newly-elected sheriff and state’s attorney appreciated.

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, kevindayhoff@gmail.com

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Carroll County sheriff’s office has been a whirlwind of activity ever since retired Maryland State Police Captain Jim DeWees took office last December 2 as Carroll County’s 58th sheriff.

DeWees takes office at a time of great changes in law enforcement. Not to be overlooked is the heightened scrutiny – and danger – in which law enforcement officers find themselves these days.

Among the many new approaches initiated recently; the sheriff’s office has announced a long over-due initiative to equalize the due process, retirement and compensation disparities between the sheriff’s deputies who work the county roads in a law enforcement and investigations capacity with that of the men and women who work as correctional officers in the county detention facility.

Then, just days later, the sheriff’s office announced the appointment of an additional investigator to the county’s drug task force to help forcefully address the growing alarm in the community over the growing abuse of prescription drugs and heroin.

DeWees has also been working closely with the county’s new Carroll County state’s attorney, Brian DeLeonardo, in a number of areas; including the recent announcement of heightening the coordination between prosecutors and local police officers and deputies who work the streets.

Both DeWees and DeLeonardo emphasized their fathers in their respective oath of office ceremonies. Both dads served in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s. This is interesting since arguably the last sea change in approach to law enforcement in the community took place in the 1960s.



+++++++++++++++++

Law Enforcement:  “Without public safety you cannot have community.”  Kevin Dayhoff

For previous posts about Law Enforcement Matters see:



LEOPS  (Law Enforcement Officers Pension System)



+++++++++++++++
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 



Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/

Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net


Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
+++++++++++++++

No comments: