Baltimore Watershed Rangers

Environmental police are 'real police'

By Heather Cobun Times Staff Writer 
Carroll County Times

8 March 2014

Carroll County residents may have noticed an unusual law enforcement agency on the road, sometimes making traffic stops. It's the Baltimore Environmental Police, and it's been around for years, actively patrolling in any area near a reservoir.

The environmental police is a unit of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works tasked with protecting water supply assets for the city, but it has full powers of arrest in the water supply and watershed regions around Liberty, Loch Raven and Prettyboy reservoirs, according to Chief Luke Brackett.

"If it's got markings, it's legit," said Lt. Patrick McCrory, commander of the Maryland State Police Westminster Barrack, of resident concerns about what agency was making traffic stops on Md. 26 and Md. 32 in Eldersburg recently. According to Brackett, this area falls into the Baltimore Environmental Police's Northern Patapsco region.

"We're real police," Brackett said of the nine officers patrolling Carroll and Baltimore counties.

"We add an extra layer of protection," he said. The environmental police share concurrent jurisdiction in approximately half of Carroll County with the Maryland State Police and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.

"The assistance of the [environmental] police on their property ... has been invaluable," said Col. Phil Kasten, of the sheriff's office, adding that his office is glad to extend support whenever it is needed to assist in investigations in the environmental police's jurisdiction.

While no officer from the environmental police is assigned specifically to traffic patrol, all units are prepared to enforce the law, according to Brackett.

"Any of our officers, when confronted with a traffic violation in our jurisdiction, will deal with it," Brackett said.

According to Brackett, traffic enforcement is a key area of protection for the reservoirs and their watersheds because crashes and unsafe driving can be a danger to the water supply.

The environmental police also assist county law enforcement and provide backup in emergencies. When the Carroll Community Bank in Sykesville was robbed in September 2012, a Baltimore Environmental Police officer pursued a suspect across the Md. 26 bridge over Liberty Reservoir and into Baltimore County, where he was apprehended, according to Brackett. Officer Silas Phillips received the Carroll County Sheriff's Office Valor Award for his actions.

They also participate in searches for fugitives because they are responsible for bridges on routes leading out of Baltimore, Brackett said.

"In Carroll County there's a real teamwork approach to policing due to the rural nature of the county and the distance between units when calls come in," he said.

The Baltimore Environmental Police was previously the Baltimore Watershed Police but was out of commission for several years due to funding issues. The agency was re-established in 2007 as the Watershed Rangers, then renamed the Baltimore Environmental Police, and Brackett said he was the only officer for the first year.

"The Carroll County law enforcement family was a great group to work with," he said of getting the environmental police off the ground in 2007.

Anyone receiving a citation from the Baltimore Environmental Police will receive a hearing date in the county where the violation occurred and fines are paid to that court, Brackett said. The police does not receive any portion of these fines.

Anyone can report suspicious activity in and around the reservoirs by calling 911 for emergencies or 410-517-3600.