PO BOX 452 ▪ ELKTON ▪ MARYLAND ▪ 21922
Ehrlich Attends F.O.P. Fundraiser
Posted: August 25, 2008
Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. attended a Cecil County Fraternal Order of Police fundraiser Saturday night in Fair Hill. Ehrlich and his wife, Kendel, arrived about midway through the five-hour crab feast at the Edward L. Walls Activity Hall. Approximately 400 people, including several county officials, attended the annual event, a sellout that raised at least $5,000, organizers reported.
Clad in dress shorts, a short-sleeve button-down shirt and sneakers, Ehrlich chatted and shook hands with several well-wishers. Ehrlich and his wife also posed for numerous photographs.
In addition, standing on the stage at the front of the hall, Ehrlich made a short speech in which he applauded law enforcement officers for their work. And he pledged his continuing support of the FOP, which endorsed Ehrlich, a Republican, in his unsuccessful bid in November 2006 for a second term as governor. In that election, Democrat Martin O'Malley defeated Ehrlich by garnering approximately 52 percent of the statewide vote.
Ehrlich's appearance at the FOP event Saturday night raised the question of his political intentions for the 2010 gubernatorial race. “That got brought up a lot tonight,” Ehrlich acknowledged, referring to comments made by people during his FOP fundraiser visit, which lasted approximately 45 minutes.
So will Ehrlich run for governor in 2010? “It would be premature to say that now,” Ehrlich said as he and his wife made their way from the activity hall.
Ehrlich said he attended the fundraiser in response to an FOP invitation, noting that his support of that organization - and police, in general - dates back to 1987 when he started serving in the Maryland House of Delegates. Ehrlich served as a delegate until 1995.
Ehrlich said that he continued to support police while serving as a U.S. congressman (2nd District), a position he held from 1995 until 2003, when he became governor. “My relationship with the FOP goes back 20 years. We were incredibly well-received tonight,” Ehrlich said. In general, he added, “I love Cecil County. We have good numbers up here.”
Ehrlich won Cecil County in his ill-fated bid for re-election in 2006, receiving 16,559 votes while O'Malley garnered 11,750 votes. In addition, Ehrlich noted, he attended the FOP fundraiser to show his support for Andy Harris, a fellow Republican who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1st Congressional District. Affixed to Ehrlich's shirt was a political sticker endorsing Harris.
Adam Streight, president of the Cecil County Chapter of the FOP, confirmed that the organization had invited Ehrlich to the fundraiser. Streight, who is a corporal with the Cecil County Sheriff's Office, praised Ehrlich for his support of the FOP. “During his tenure, he has always been a friend of police,” Streight said.
While serving as governor, a position Ehrlich held from 2003 to 2007, he signed a bill that ridded the Cecil County Sheriff's Office of its at-will firing policy, Streight said.
Ehrlich also pledged his support of collective bargaining legislation for Cecil County, but such bills never reached his desk during his term, he added. “We're so glad that he made the time to come to this awesome event,” Streight said, admitting that he, too, wonders if Ehrlich will run again for governor.
Streight added, “No matter what his plans are in life, we (FOP members) want to continue our friendship with him.”
Carl Hamilton
www.cecilwhig.com
© Copyright 2008 - CECILFOP2.COM. All Rights Reserved.
Accused Shooter Out on Bond; Man charged with attempted murder after officer shot
Posted: January 12, 2009
A man accused of shooting a Harford County deputy last month during a drug raid in his Conowingo home is free on bond. James W. Ratledge, 60, of the 300 block of Old Conowingo Road posted $100,000 in bail Friday, one day after a judge lowered the original no bond set by a court commissioner, aCecil County Detention Center spokesman reported Sunday.
Ratledge, who suffered a non-life-threatening wound to his chest when police returned fire, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.
After being released from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Unit in Baltimore, where Ratledge had stayed under police guard, he appeared for arraignment in Cecil County Circuit Court on Thursday in a wheelchair.
His Elkton-based lawyer, William F. Riddle, asked Retired Circuit Court Judge Christian M. Kahl, a visiting jurist from Baltimore County, to reduce Ratledge's bond to $100,000.
Deputy State's Attorney Michael J. Halter, meanwhile, asked the judge to keep Ratledge in custody without bond, citing the seriousness of the charges against him.
Kahl lowered the bond to $100,000, explaining, in part, that Ratledge wouldn't be a flight risk because of his physical condition, agreeing with one of the arguments made by Riddle. Halter declined to comment on the judge's decision.
The deputy whom Ratledge allegedly shot also suffered a non-life-threatening wound. A bullet fired from a handgun ripped through a bedroom wall and struck the deputy's protective vest, according to police.
An ambulance took the deputy to Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace, where emergency room doctors treated and released him, police reported. Because of the officer's covert job assignment, police identified him only as a Harford County Sheriff's Department deputy.
At the time of the incident, the deputy was assisting the Cecil County Joint Narcotics Task Force as it executed a search warrant at Ratledge's home. The task force is comprised of Maryland State Police troopers, Cecil County Sheriff's Office deputies and Elkton Police Department officers, all of whom hold undercover status.
Ratledge and police exchanged gunfire about 5 a.m. Dec. 19 after undercover and uniformed police officers entered his home, police reported.
The covert drug agents were executing a search warrant after investigators had gathered several leads “indicating (Ratledge) was involved in the distribution of cocaine in the area,” said Greg Shipley, a Maryland State Police spokesman. Shipley noted that police officers identified themselves and announced their presence after entering the home.
Police provided the following account of the incident: Ratledge looked out a bedroom door that opens to an upstairs loft, saw the approaching officers, shut the bedroom door and refused to surrender. Three police officers, including the Harford County deputy and the Maryland State Police trooper assigned to the force, went up into the loft and tried to open the bedroom door. From inside the bedroom, Ratledge tried to keep the door closed. Then Ratledge fired a handgun through the wall beside the door, striking the Harford County deputy in his protective vest. The task force trooper and a task force officer from Elkton Police Department returned fire. One of the return shots fired through the barrier struck Ratledge in the chest. Even wounded, Ratledge remained in the bedroom for 10 more minutes, maintaining the standoff, before surrendering at the urging of police officers. A state police helicopter flew Ratledge to the trauma center.
Authorities declined to identify the officers who fired their weapons because of their undercover work, citing their safety. Officials described one only as a 10-year Maryland State Police veteran who, before joining that agency, worked elsewhere as a police officer. They provided no additional information about the Elkton Police Department officer who fired his weapon.
The drug investigation and the shooting investigation are continuing.
By Carl Hamilton
www.cecilwhig.com
Visiting Judge Outrages Police
Posted: January 22, 2009
The men and women of the Cecil County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 2 are outraged over the recent decision of visiting Baltimore County Judge Christian Kahl to release on bail a man accused of trying to kill a police officer last month in Conowingo.
The argument that defendant James Ratledge is not a flight risk due to injuries he sustained in a shootout with police is not logical or reasonable by any stretch of the imagination. Given the seriousness of the charges, electronic monitoring should have been ordered at a minimum.
Does Judge Kahl really believe that the defendant could not use an automobile to flee justice if he so chose? Given the violence the defendant allegedly initiated during a lawful search warrant and the fact that he is alive to be charged with it, it appears that the Almighty has already granted him a reprieve. Apparently, that wasn't good enough for Judge Kahl, who must have felt the defendant posed little threat to society.
Attempted murder of a police officer is a crime that goes beyond the victimization of a public servant. It is the victimization and utter contempt upon the very society in whose name the officer serves.
The Cecil County judicial system has repeatedly shown its reluctance to effectively deal with an array of violent crimes, namely child predators and sex offenders. Now, thanks to the ridiculous decision of Judge Kahl, we can add charges of attempted cop killing to the list.
Adam Streight
Cecil County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 2
*Adam Streight is President of F.O.P. Lodge 2
To the Editor (Cecil Whig):
Published: Friday, May 15, 2009
On behalf of an organization that represents Cecil County's police officers, I am glad that the Whig is expressing outrage in yesterday's editorial regarding violent drug crimes, however I am perplexed as to the insinuation that there has been little outrage before now, particularly from cops. On January 22, 2009, the Whig published a letter from the Cecil County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 2, entitled, “Visiting Judge Outrages Police”, in which we expressed our “outrage” of the ridiculously low bail set by a visiting judge for a man accused of shooting a police officer during a drug raid late last year. In it, we expressed our “outrage” over the Cecil County judiciary's unwillingness and/or ineffectiveness in appropriately dealing with culprits. At no time was there any “outrage” publicly expressed by the Whig or anyone else except for the Deputy State's Attorney. As a former child abuse investigator, I can tell you how frustrating it is to conduct a complex investigation while following all the rules and case law the courts constantly change on us and assuring the victims they have a voice and can trust the system to do the right thing, only to have the defendant plead to a felony and receive insignificant jail time - if at all. What kind of message does that send? No wonder the recidivism rate among child molesters, drug dealers, and other violent criminals is high. And
while “outrage” from the public is vocal after these stories run, the Whig editorial staff routinely stays silent.
The outrage is there and has been there for a long time. If the Whig is serious about exercising its role as the community voice, then let's stand up together and do something about it. Support your police and prosecutors and routinely express outrage, not only for violent crime which preys on our community and children, but also for the apparent impotency of our courts.
Adam M. Streight, President
Cecil County Fraternal order of Police, Lodge 2
WHIG EDITORIAL: Razor attack a breaking point for crime tolerance
Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009 1:05 PM
Horrific.
There's really no other way to explain the brutal razor attack that occurred in Elkton on Nov. 30, and judging from the comments we have been getting online, many of you agree.
The top story in Monday's paper was about a 19 year-old accepting a plea bargain for slicing another man into a bloody mess with a razor because he believed the man was hiding money or cocaine in his rectum. The attacker was trying to get one of the two out of the victim. The estimated value of such an amount of cocaine is $50.
50 bucks.
Unbelievable.
Unfortunately, attacks of all kinds are all too common with people associated with drugs of any sort. Only because the extreme brutality and horrifying nature of this crime struck such a resounding chord with people's sense of right and wrong was there any additional attention given this case at all.
Maybe we all have just become numb to all the drug crime around us and almost accepted it as part of the times in which we live. Flip through the paper in any given week and there are dozens of stories about crime that have drugs as the main ingredient.
This one was unusual though - maybe only because the graphic facts became so public.
The cold, calculated brutality is something we only see in the movies or hear about on television. Only drugs, it seems, can lead to something like this.
How else can we explain the heinousness of this crime?
Even in the movies or on TV, these horrifying acts are done over big dollar amounts - not 50 bucks.
What we need is the kind of outrage that this most recent story elicited for all drug crimes. Outrage from the victims, outrage from police, outrage from the court system, outrage from the public. Everybody should be outraged about drug crimes because eventually they lead to something more horrible than most decent people can imagine.
Although our history says things won't change - goodness knows there have been myriad wars on drugs - maybe this can act as a catalyst for some kind of change.
People may accept drugs and crime on an everyday basis, but people have a hard time digesting horrid acts like this on the streets of their towns. There has to be a point at which people just can't take it anymore.
Maybe this horrific act will be it.
WHIG EDITORIAL: District Court's actions lead to head scratching
Published: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 10:37 AM
It's not difficult to see why members of the Cecil County Sheriff's Office and the president of the county FOP are peeved about the bonds given to two men who allegedly fired shots at deputies and witnesses last week.
A $25,000 bond for each of the suspects seems unusually low, particularly in light of the number and severity of charges both men face.
Based on police accounts of the incident, it hardly seems sensible for a district court commissioner to believe that 18-year-old Jeremiah J. Bedwell and 24-year-old Raymond C. Chadwick do not pose a risk to the public, considering their alleged lack of concern for the lives of residents or police.
Add in Judge Bonnie Schneider's decision to later lower the bond for Bedwell and it's hard to image how police officers can interpret the court's actions as anything but disregard for their safety.
Take, for example, the $250,000 bond a judge set during a bond review hearing for Charles P. Wesley, a Warwick man who reportedly ran over a Delaware resident four times last weekend.
An off-duty deputy's eyewitness account portrays an unimaginably vicious attack - but an attack against a single individual. Yet he received a bond 10 times as large as the two men who allegedly opened fire on a group of people that included five deputies.
It is true, however, that the Warwick man has been charged with attempted murder. Police opted against adding that charge to the litany of crimes allegedly committed by Bedwell and Chadwick.
It's rare for police officers to call out court officials like this - perhaps that's a sign that the court owes the law enforcement community an explanation of the decisions made regarding these men's bonds.
Police: shooters' bond too small
FOP takes issue with District Court decisions
By Carl Hamilton
cahamilton@cecilwhig.com
Police officials are dismayed by what they consider inappropriately low bonds given to two Cecil County men accused of firing several shots at a group of deputies and witnesses last week.
A Cecil County District Court commissioner set bond at $25,000 for each the suspects after police arrested them Friday morning.
Then, during a bond review hearing Monday morning, Cecil County District Court Judge Bonnie G. Schneider lowered the bond to $20,000 on one of the defendants, 18-year-old Jeremiah Johnson Bedwell, of the 200 block of Hollingsworth Manor in Elkton. Schneider kept the bond at $25,000 for the other defendant, Raymond Curtis Chadwick, 24, of Elkton.
-degree assault, two counts of recklessly discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle, use of a handgun in the commission of a felony and carrying a handgun in a vehicle.
Schneider's decision, along with the initial bonds set by District Court Commissioner Jessica Smith drew sharp criticism from the Cecil County Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police on Monday.
“We understand the presumption of innocence and while bond is not punitive in nature, it is partially to ensure the public safety,” said FOP President Adam Streight. “For a court commissioner not to recognize that two defendants charged with shooting at citizens and then returning to the crime scene and shooting at police is not the most extreme threat to the public is outrageous and beyond the pale. And for a judge to concur and, in fact, lower one of the bonds is a slap on the face of not only law enforcement, but to the citizens we serve.”
Lt. Bernard Chiominto, a public information officer for the Cecil County Sheriff's Office, also voiced displeasure over the bonds.
“Needless to say, we're disappointed by the bonds,” he said. “I know they have guidelines to follow, but I don't understand the reasoning. I don't think they always follow the guidelines. (Bedwell and Chadwick) are accused of discharging a firearm at deputies and citizens. That's about as serious as it gets.”
In determining a bond, a judge is supposed to consider several standard factors. Among them are the seriousness of the charges, the public's safety, the defendant's ties to the county and his or her criminal record, including whether or not he or she has failed to appear for court.
Smith on Monday declined to explain what factors she used to set the bonds for Bedwell and Chadwick, citing protocol that prohibits district court commissioners from making comments to the media.
Smith deferred all questions to Cecil County Administrative District Court Judge Stephen J. Baker, who, along with Schneider, could not be reached Monday.
Late Monday afternoon, Bedwell and Chadwick remained in the Cecil County Detention Center in lieu of their bonds, a jail spokeswoman reported.
No one was wounded when the suspects allegedly opened fire from a green Honda Civic about 10:30 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of East Old Philadelphia Road.
The men reportedly launched the gunfire attack after returning to the scene of a fight in which they and others were involved.
Witnesses also reported hearing gunshots during the fight, which investigators described as the latest incident in an ongoing feud between two non-gang-related groups, police said.
When the suspects returned about five minutes later, five deputies were interviewing witnesses in a driveway off East Old Philadelphia Road, police reported.
The suspects stopped the Honda at the top of a hill near Pine Bluff Road about 50 yards from deputies and witnesses and began shooting, police said.
Seconds later, the Honda sped away west on East Old Philadelphia Road, spurring a police chase that ended a short time later at nearby Whispering Pines Trailer Park with the arrests of Bedwell and Chadwick, police added.
Investigators recovered several spent .25-caliber shell casings inside the Honda and in the roadway, as well as a box of .25-caliber bullets in a field, not far from where deputies found Chadwick hiding.
Police have not recovered a handgun, although witnesses reportedly saw Chadwick holding a weapon as he ran through the trailer park.