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The Caroline County Sheriff's Office Divisions
Teen Court is a real justice program run by teens for teens. Juveniles aged 12 through 17 who have committed a misdemeanor crime appear before a jury of their peers. The crime is generally a first offense, and the respondent must admit involvement since this is a disposition (sentencing) hearing only.
Teen Court is offered as a positive experience to divert a first time teen offender away from a pattern of criminal behavior. Cases heard in Teen Court involve crimes such as shoplifting, disorderly conduct, destruction of property and possession of alcohol to name a few.
In Teen Court, volunteer teens perform the roles of the prosecuting and defense attorneys, bailiff, clerk and jury. The Judge is the only adult directly involved in the court proceedings.
After careful consideration of the facts, the jury deliberates and decides upon a constructive disposition, including a minimum number of community service hours and serving on at least one and up to four teen court juries .The respondent then has 60 days to complete the disposition and have the original charge dismissed. If the disposition is not completed, the case returns to the referring agency, for formal processing. Other sanctions include attending educational programs, and writing essays and apology letters.
The Caroline County Teen Court is a cooperative effort of the Caroline County Sheriff's Office, Caroline Human Services Council, and the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice.
Since it's inception, hundreds of cases have come before the Teen Court. The Teen Court has assigned thousands of community service hours to be completed by respondents. Currently the Teen Court is being held at the Caroline County Circuit Court.
The recruitment of Teen Court volunteers is always a priority. Speaking engagements and general questions involving Teen Court are handled through Cpl. James Gossage of the Caroline County Sheriff's Office. Cpl. Gossage can be contacted at 410-479-2515 for further questions. Please go to http://www.youthcourt.net/ for additional information on our youth programs available.
The Caroline County Sheriff's Office's Central Records is where all reports created at the Caroline County Sheriff's Office are entered into the computerized Aegis "New World" Records system. Central Records staff then file, store and secure records for future access.
Central Records is open Monday to Friday, 8:00AM to 4:00PM, to assist the general public in obtaining copies of records, such as crime reports and other information. The office can be reached directly by dialing 410-479-4120.
FINGERPRINTING: IF you should need to have your fingerprints taken by the Caroline County Sheriff's Office, please contact our Central Records Division to make an appointment first. In addition, we DO NOT accept cash...only checks. The fee for fingerprinting for employment purposes is $10.00. If you need court ordered fingerprinting, there is not a fee involved, but you still need to make an appointment with our Central Records Division first.
REQUEST FOR POLICE REPORT: If you need a copy of a police report that has been completed by the Sheriff's Office, please fill out the appropriate form below titled "Request for Police Report". It is a filable PDF that needs to be completed in its entierty and printed out to be submitted to the Central Records Division. There is a fee of $10 PER REPORT. Again, we only except checks as payment...no cash.
One of the most important duties of the Sheriff has always been to execute and serve the various processes issued by and for the courts of Maryland. The Sheriff shares this responsibility in the area of criminal processes with other agencies, but for civil cases and processes, the responsibility is held by the Sheriff alone.
The Caroline County Sheriff's Office Civil Process Division processes hundreds of summons, pleadings, court orders, judgments and reports per month.
These give the parties notice that the court is considering taking some type of action which has been requested by the plaintiff. Preserve the status quo: temporary and permanent restraining orders or injunctions to prevent parties from performing acts that would cause harm to other persons involved, until the matter is settled in the courts.
Contact the Clerks office with any question you may have. Once your order is received the Sheriff's office will do their best to serve your paperwork and assist with any information. The Sheriff's office charges a basic fee that is served per civil action. Contact us for more information on fees that may be required by the Sheriff's Office.
In 2008, the Caroline County Sheriff's Office partnered with the Caroline County Board of Educaiton to create a School Resource Officer (SRO) program to positively impact the relationship between law enforcement and the young people of the community. The program began with one Deputy serving Col. Richardson High School, located in the Southern end of the county.
Since then, the needs of the community have changed, and the role of the SRO has expanded to meet those needs. Today, we have two SROs, one covering each of the county's two high schools. SROs are a uniformed presence in the schools, taking incident and offense reports, investigating crimes that occur on school grounds, and gathering intelligence information about potential threats to the schools. At the same time, the SROs have retained their liaison, educational, and counseling roles, resulting in a full range of interaction with students on a daily basis.
Each of our SROs has completed formal School Resource Officer training sponsored by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). They also attend periodic refresher training sponsored by the Maryland Police Training Commission, both locally and nationally, to ensure that we remain on the cutting edge of this vital community service.
The following pertains to information regarding what a School Resource Officer's duties are; taking into account three main roles and responsibilities: law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related educator.
Law Enforcement
- Provide law enforcement and police services to the school, school grounds and areas adjacent to the school. Investigate allegations of criminal incidents per police department policies and procedures. Enforce state and local laws and ordinances. Make appropriate referrals to juvenile authorities or other governmental agencies.
- Work to prevent juvenile delinquency through close contact and positive relationships with students. In addition the SRO shall develop crime prevention programs and conduct security inspections to deter criminal or delinquent activities. The SRO should monitor crime statistics and work with local patrol officers and students together to design crime prevention strategies
- Establish and maintain a close partnership with school administrators in order to provide for a safe school environment. Assist school officials with their efforts to enforce Board Of Education policies and procedures. Ensure school administrator safety by being present during school searches, which may involve weapons, controlled dangerous substances or in such cases that, the student's emotional state may present a risk to the administrator. Assist school administrators in emergency crisis planning and building security matters. Provide a course of training for school personnel in handling crisis situations, which may arise at the school.
- Be visible within the school community. Attend and participate in school functions. Build working relationships with the school's staff as well as with student and parent groups.
- Develop and implement classes in law related education to support the educational efforts of the faculty. Work closely with teachers in designing and presenting law-related topics and the role of police in our society.
- Work with guidance counselors and other student support staff to assist students and to provide services to students involved in situations where referrals to service agencies are necessary. Assist in conflict resolution efforts.
- Initiate interaction with students in the classroom and general areas of the school building. Promote the profession of police officer and be a positive role model. Increase the visibility and accessibility of police to the school community.
Law Related Counselor
The role of law-related counselor should not be unfamiliar to a School Resource Officer. Police officers conduct street level law related counseling on a regular basis. For example, a victim of domestic violence is given information on how to obtain a protective order, or an officer may attempt to mediate a dispute between two neighbors. Officers are frequently called upon to help resolve problems that are not necessarily criminal matters.
Similarly, guidance counselors will call upon the SRO to assist in conflict mediation efforts. Parents may seek information from the SRO if they suspect their child may be experimenting with drugs or alcohol. Students will ask the SRO for advice concerning a recent traffic ticket. Many times students will just want someone to talk to about problems that they are experiencing, and the SRO can act as another caring adult in the school building who works to find positive solutions for young people.
Law Related Educator
School Resource Officers will have contact with a majority of students in a school. SROs can serve as a resource for educators in the sharing of their experience and expertise as a law-related educator when they are invited into the classroom as guest speakers. Classroom presentations by an SRO compliment the schools curriculum as well as giving the SRO the opportunity to interact with students and discuss law-related issues. The contact that the SRO has with students in the classroom is a positive learning experience.
Law-related education is designed to promote responsible citizenship and give the student a better understanding of how our legal system works. As a police officer the SRO offers the student real life examples of how the criminal justice system operates. The SRO brings their experience into the classroom in order to educate the student on the role of police in a free society.
SROs support school wide efforts to educate students on the consequences of unacceptable behavior both in school and in the community. In addition the SRO works to educate students in crime prevention and personal safety. Teachers and SROs can create lessons that can compliment the school curriculum in almost every subject area. A few of the possibilities are:
SOCIAL STUDIES: Search and seizure, constitutional provisions of the 4th amendment, constitutional rights and their relevance to democracy, navigating the judicial process, understanding the adult and juvenile court systems.
SCIENCE: Crime scene investigation, forensics, use of polygraph, extracting fingerprints, DNA technology used as court evidence.
ENGLISH: Police report writing.
HEALTH: Drug and alcohol awareness.
In addition to supporting the faculty in the classroom the SRO has the opportunity to provide other educational activities to the entire school community. The SRO provides crisis and emergency training to the faculty and staff. The SRO may conduct informational presentations to parent groups concerning emerging drug trends to which their children may be exposed. The SRO may speak to school clubs about driver safety issues.
The Caroline County Sheriff's Office is the designated law enforcement agency for all of Caroline County, per Maryland State Law and serves as the local registration agency for all Sexual Offenders and is responsible for the registration of Sexually Violent Predators. The supervisor for the Sheriff's Office's Sex Offender Registry Unit is Lieutenant Ronald Dixon.
Maryland State Law requires both resident and non-resident Sexual Offenders to register, both in person and annually either for fifteen or twenty five years or for life. The Caroline County Sheriffs Office is the county's local registerant authority.
Sexually Violent Predators are required to submit verification of current address to the Sheriff Offices Sex Offender Registry Unit every 90 days for life. A copy of a registration statement on record with the Caroline County Sheriff's Office's Sex Offender Registry Unit may be obtained from the unit by submitting a written request including the reason for the request to the unit Supervisor.
General Information
The public information maintained by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in this Sex Offender Registry is provided as part of the State's effort to protect children and others from those with histories of crimes against children and other sexual offenses.
Alleged violations of law by registrants should be reported to any local law enforcement agency. If you have knowledge that a registrant is not residing at the "Last Reported Residence" listed in this registry, you are encouraged to call the Caroline County Sheriff's Office at 410-479-2515.
K-9 handler, Cpl. Peterson has been in law enforcement since December of 1998 after serving active duty infantry with the United States Marine Corps. During Cpl. Peterson's time in law enforcement he has served as both a Drug Task Force investigator and as a uniformed patrol deputy before starting the Sheriff's Office K-9 program.
His partner K-9 Rock is a German Sheppard who was imported from Hungary to the Castle K-9 training grounds in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania. The K-9 team responded for a live-in training academy at Castle K-9 where they were nationally certified as a patrol/narcotics K-9 team.
The purpose of the K-9 Unit is to provide the citizens of Caroline County with a trained police service dog to help locate illegal narcotics, apprehend violent offenders, locate discarded/hidden evidence, track fleeing suspects, and to find lost or missing persons. The K-9 team has proven on numerous occasions to be an asset to the Caroline County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Task Force, Caroline County's municipal police agencies, and the communities themselves. On an average the K-9 team is directly involved in over 100 illegal drugs and/or criminal apprehensions per year, along with seizing large amounts of narcotics, guns, drug money, and property from violators of Maryland's drug laws.
The K-9 team not only supports Caroline County, but numerous surrounding counties as well. The K-9 team is funded by seized funds through investigations initiated by the Caroline County Drug Task Force. The K-9 team must be continuously trained and certified yearly in its particular duties. As officers must be trained in law enforcement, so must police dogs. Most of the training is conducted by the handler on a daily basis, although numerous training hours are put in both with the surrounding agencies K-9 Units, and certified master trainers. Whether it be removing drugs and drug money from the hands of drug dealers, apprehending violent felons, or returning a lost family member to his/her loved ones, the Caroline County Sheriff's Office's K-9 Unit is always ready.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight , it's the size of the fight in the dog"
~Dwight Eisenhower
One of the main duties of the deputies assigned to the Circuit Court Security Division, is to maintain order during all criminal and civil proceedings held within the courthouse, while also providing for safety and protection of the visitors who have business at the courthouse on a daily basis.
The Caroline County Circuit Courthouse is staffed by sworn deputies and court appointed bailiff's. The duties of personnel assigned to the courthouse include, but are not limited to, searching all individuals entering the courthouse for weapons and other items which are classified as contraband.
The deputies also utilize security cameras and alarms located throughout the building which are also monitored at all times by the deputies and the Caroline County Emergency Operations Center.
The Caroline County Drug Task Force (CCDTF) has proven to be a valuable asset in the war against illegal drugs. The CCDTF's main responsibility is to conduct covert operations, and to apprehend persons possessing, transporting, and/or selling illegal drugs.
The CCDTF time and time again has put perpetrators on notice that dealing illegal drugs in Caroline County is not a wise decision. The CCDTF has been responsible for hundreds upon hundreds of seizures of both illegal drugs and drug dealer properties such as vehicles and/or residences.
The CCDTF also due to their covert nature has proven to be an asset in criminal investigations as well. The CCDTF has assisted with many criminal investigations, mostly as a surveillance unit in operations dealing with incidents ranging from homicides to thefts. Members of the CCDTF and the Caroline County Sheriff's Department strongly urge citizens to play a part in the war against drugs by phoning in pertinent information to the CCDTF tips line at 410-479-8477 .
The 24-hour anonymous Drug Tip Hot Line is a mechanism for citizens to provide the Caroline County Drug Task Force with information relating to illicit drug use and distribution, as well as vice issues such as prostitution and gambling.
How does the Hot Line work?
When a citizen calls 410-479-8477, he or she will generally hear a taped message explaining that a detective is not presently available. However, speak as long as you like, explaining the activity in as much detail as you can. You do not have to provide your name, address, or telephone number. All information is kept strictly confidential.
What happens to the information I provide?
Information is "logged in" and cross-referenced, allowing detectives to determine if additional information related to the criminal activity about which you are calling has been reported in the past. Even "small" bits of information can at times provide detectives the "missing link" that allows them to take action. All information remains confidential, and within the Drug Task Force Unit.
What if I want to speak with a detective directly?
You can leave your name and telephone number on the tape, and a detective will call you as soon as possible. Again, your name will remain strictly confidential at all times.
What if I want to report a drug transaction that is happening right now?
If you witness a drug crime or any other crime that requires immediate police response: DIAL 9-1-1. A Sheriff's Office patrol unit will be dispatched to the area. Some times, Task Force Detectives will hear the dispatch and take direct action themselves.
How can I use the Anonymous Drug Tip Hot Line most effectively?
- Speak clearly and don't rush. Take your time leaving your message. Be as specific as possible in providing the following information:
- Location of the incident: street address of building or house, names of nearest intersecting streets, landmarks near or at the scene
- Description of persons involved: such as height, sex, age, weight, clothing, hair color, eye color, skin color, and any distinguishing marks
- Description of vehicles involved: such as make, model, color, and license plate
Remember, this is an anonymous tip line. All information is kept strictly confidential, within the Caroline County Drug Task Force. Patrol Deputies have the ability to contact an on call drug investigator.
C.I.D. is responsible for all major crime scene processing, photography, and forensic evidence gathering and handling.
C.I.D. has trained Investigators in the fields of crime scene investigation, interview and interrogation, crime scene photography, evidence handling/seizure, and child sexual abuse investigations.
During large scale criminal investigations, C.I.D. often works in collaboration with other area local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in order to pool resources and more effectively solve crimes.
The Criminal Investigation Division is the clearinghouse for all investigative reports generated by the department. Each case is reviewed for solvability factors and is then assigned to an investigator for follow-up based on the type of crime and the investigator's expertise. Members of the division conduct interviews and lawful searches during an investigation to gather information or evidence useful in reconstructing the occurrence or circumstances of an illegal act.
The primary duties of an investigator include: the apprehension of offenders, recovery of stolen property, preparation of cases for court prosecutions, out of state extraditions, and the presentation of evidence in high level court cases.
The life of a patrol deputy is an exciting one--every day you are in a position to help citizens by responding to calls under a myriad of circumstances. Deputies patrol the County and respond to calls for service relayed through the Caroline County 911 Center.
The Uniform Patrol Division takes a proactive approach to law enforcement with emphasis on crime prevention. Patrol Deputies are assigned individual patrol zones consisting of a geographical area of the County. Deputies patrol known hot spots and conduct foot patrol in high crime areas. In order to ensure local business employees feel safe, Deputies conduct business checks to increase awareness that a police presence is nearby.
While patrolling the County, Deputies are on the lookout for violators of Maryland's traffic laws. Traffic law enforcement is important in preventing accidents causing physical injury or death. Deputies conduct numerous traffic/speed enforcement assignments, some of which may target an area specifically requested by local citizens, while others during general patrol.
Traffic stops are never routine. Because a Deputy does not know what he or she may encounter. Crimes often involve the suspect utilizing a vehicle to transport illegal drugs, guns, or stolen property. As this is often the suspect's most vulnerable moment, Deputies must exercise extreme caution.
The Caroline Sheriff's Office Uniform Patrol Division also handles the serving of Circuit and District court warrants. When a Deputy is assigned a newly issued court warrant, they conduct a short investigative background check of the listed subject. This effort ensures officer safety due to the fact that many wanted subjects make an effort not to be located or apprehended. Many of the warrants issued are for violent offenders who pose a threat not only to law enforcement personnel but citizens in general.
Deputies serve additional court orders such as orders of protection. These orders are usually the result of a domestic violence investigation and are issued from the court in an effort to protect a listed victim from harm.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
~ Edmund Burke