History
Prior to 1921, the state of Maryland had no state-wide police force. In that year, in response to increasing crime, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles organized a team of police officers who were given statewide jurisdiction to enforce traffic and criminal laws. They gained jurisdiction through deputization by county sheriffs. An associated plainclothes investigative unit became known as the "State Police Force."
In 1935, the Maryland State Police was established as a separate unit of State government, funded out of revenues from the Department of Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. It was granted additional statewide police powers to enforce fish, oyster, game and other conservation laws and maintain a training school. It was made part of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in 1970.
In 1994, the Department of Maryland State Police was formed as a separate executive department; it was renamed the Department of State Police in 1995. Recent Superintendents have included David B. Mitchell from 1995 to 2003, Ed Norris from 2003 to 2004, Thomas E. Hutchins from 2004 to 2007, and Terrence Sheridan from 2007 to 2011. The current Superintendent is Marcus L. Brown, who was appointed on August 1, 2011 after serving as Chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police since 2007.
In the history of the force, forty-three (43) state troopers have been killed in the line of duty.
Read more about this topic: Maryland State Police
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—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)