MARYLAND STATE POLICE MARKS 90TH ANNIVERSARY - PROTECTING, PREVENTING, PROVIDING SINCE 1921

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – Colonel Terrence B. Sheridan is joining sworn and civilian employees to mark the 90th anniversary of the commencement of the first training class of members of the newly formed Maryland State Police.

On January 10, 1921, 36 recruits began training at Saunders Ridge firearms range near Glen Burnie to become members of a new statewide law enforcement agency. They graduated one month later and were charged with protecting citizens, preventing traffic and criminal offenses, and providing the highest quality of law enforcement services as the first members of the Maryland State Police.

“Our troopers and civilian employees work around-the-clock, in all kinds of weather and circumstances, to protect the people of Maryland and I am grateful for their service,” Colonel Sheridan said. “We will never know how many people have been helped by members of the Maryland State Police during these past 90 years. We do know that during each day of these previous nine decades, there were people across Maryland who were helped and whose lives were positively impacted because of the efforts of the members of this Department. As we mark our 90th year of service to the people of Maryland, we look forward to meeting the challenges ahead with the diligent determination that has been at the core of this Department since its inception.”

The dawn of the 1920’s brought a perplexing problem to the office of Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie. The advent of the automobile was providing criminals with the means to expand their criminal enterprises and the ability to quickly flee their crime scenes and travel out of the area to avoid detection and arrest.

Governor Ritchie proposed a solution that changed the landscape of law enforcement in Maryland. He decided a police force was needed that had statewide jurisdiction and would provide both criminal and traffic enforcement across the entire state of Maryland.

Governor Ritchie’s vision began to take shape when the training for the three dozen recruits began 90 years ago today. On February 10, 1921, Governor Ritchie presided over the graduation of the first members of the Maryland State Police. He charged them to “…protect the men, women and property of the state of Maryland and to preserve law and order.” The members of the Maryland State Police have proudly done so ever since.

With the anniversary observance, members of the Maryland State Police are also remembering those who gave their lives in the line of duty. Since 1921, 41 men and one woman have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the people of Maryland. Twenty troopers were killed in vehicle crashes, three were outside their vehicles when they were struck and killed by other vehicles, eight died in helicopter crashes, one died in a plane crash, nine troopers were shot and killed, and one trooper died of exposure after trying to transport food to stranded citizens during a blizzard.

Today, more than 1,500 troopers and 700 civilian support personnel work across the state around-the-clock to serve and protect Maryland’s citizens. Patrol troopers in the Field Operations Bureau staff 22 barracks and enforce traffic and criminal laws, while others work in specialized units like the Aviation Command, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Special Operations Division, and Automotive Safety Division.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau includes the Drug Enforcement Division and the Criminal Investigation Division. Troopers in these divisions are focused on criminal enforcement efforts that target illegal drugs, guns, fugitives, gangs, and violent crime. The Bureau also includes the Forensic Sciences Division where more than 80 scientists and crime scene technicians work in the state-of-the-art laboratory in Pikesville and two satellite labs in Berlin and Hagerstown.

The Support Services Bureau provides logistical support that keeps the State Police operating. It includes the Personnel Command that recruits and trains troopers, the Logistics Command that maintains equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and the Records Command that coordinates investigative and crash reports and operates the Licensing Division, responsible for investigating persons applying to purchase and or carry regulated firearms in Maryland.

For more information about the Maryland State Police, visit our website at www.mdsp.org.