In The News!
The following introductory paragraphs and links are provided as a sources for finding relevant information of interest to our area FOP members. Clicking the article title will open new page (or a tab) over the top of this page. To return here, just close the new page. Pages are listed by date of the articles with the more recent articles listed first. Recent old articles can still be found in the right column.
The Middlefield Police Department released this Shootout Video ....
- Guns.com
May 4, 2013 - ... from their incident in March. This is cruiser cam raw footage. An AK47 opened up expending 37 rounds at two officers on a "routine" traffic stop. Both officers were hit but survived; the shooter did not.
Calvert County urges residents to protect against vibrio
- SoMdNews.com
May 3, 2013 - “It all stems from vibrio,” Shaw said. “You could die very quickly from it or you can have a situation like he had, where it affects organs. He spent quite a long time at Washington Hospital Center.”
New DNR program extends to Southern Maryland
- SoMdNews.com
April 12, 2013 - “Under the program, natural resources cases, including fishing, hunting, boating and tree expert violations from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, are heard in the county where the case originated, on specific days each month, and prosecuted by a designated state’s attorney from that county, according to DNR”
Crabs, supersized by carbon pollution, may upset Chesapeake’s balance
- Washington Post
April 7, 2013 - “Higher levels of carbon in the ocean are causing oysters to grow slower, and their predators — such as blue crabs — to grow faster,”
Our say: State shortchanges environmental policing
- Capital Gazette
March 13, 2013 - "The State of Maryland’s good intentions about managing the bay don’t mean anything without boots on the ground — and on the deck."
Natural Resources Police, Part II
- Baynet.com
March 12, 2013 - "...Department of Natural Resources testified on a bill that they would like to see passed called, “Police Officer Certification, Exemption for the Natural Resources Police” which would basically reduce the NRP even further and allow for a part-time force of barely trained high schoolers. Yes, I did say high schoolers,..."
Va. officials say oyster poaching in Chesapeake Bay is epidemic, 240 violations in 2012
- Washington Post
March 11, 2013 - "Police and shellfish experts say several factors have contributed to the increase in poaching, including a weak economy and fewer patrol officers on the water.."
Natural Resources Police push for more officers, money
- Capital Gazette
March 11, 2013 - "The head of the Natural Resources Police says staffing is a problem in his agency."
Are the Natural Resources Police's Days Numbered?
- Baynet.com
March 5, 2013 - ".The reports offered by DNR to the legislature and Governor’s Office seem to present the data in such a way as to make it look like there is no staffing problem. Why? Wouldn’t the department secretary want to approach the governor and alert him to such a serious staffing and organizational problem? Maybe he has, and Governor O’Malley has not responded. Perhaps the secretary does not want to be told how to spend his department’s money..."
Natural Resources Police Level of Service Standards
- DNR
December 2012 - ".... A total of 233 patrol officers – 70 more than current staffing – would be able to meet the year-round patrol workload of recent years;...."
Virulent bacteria may be present in bay, tributaries
- Southern Maryland News
June 29, 2012 - "Under certain conditions such as pollution, water temperature, salinity and perhaps photosynthesis in shallow water can come together to create a virulent and potentially deadly bacteria."
Aimee Copeland of Georgia, victim of flesh-eating bacteria....
- WUSA9-TV
June 5, 2012 - "Several alarming cases of flesh-eating bacteria have been in the news in rapid succession. ... most devastating involves a bug that lives in many waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay. "
Bacteria that caused flesh-eating infection more common than believed
- Baltimore Sun
May 16, 2012 - ".....when we engage in water-related activities in these warmer spring and summer months, such as fishing, boating, swimming and skiing, we are recreationally exposing ourselves ...."