The Examiner spotlights Cecil County Sheriff candidate Al Michael

~ By Chuck DeSocio

Cecil County Sheriff candidate Al Michael

The Examiner recently had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Alan Michael who is a candidate for Cecil County Sherriff. This race has a packed field with 5 candidates currently on the ballot. The current sheriff is Barry Janney and he is the incumbent in this race.

Mr. Michael was very informed of the issues and of criminal justice in general and it was a pleasure to speak with him. Mr. Michael has been a Cecil County resident for 33 years. He has been married to his wife for twenty eight years and has three children.

There is no doubt that his qualifications and experience qualify him to be Sheriff. Mr. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Wilmington University in Criminal Justice. He served his country in the United States Air Force from 1971-1974. In 1977 he joined the Maryland State Police where he served as a First Sergeant/Detective Sergeant before retiring with 25 1/2 years of active service years in 2002. During this time he also served in the Delaware Air National Guard from 1978-2002, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant. He has also been on the adjunct staff at Cecil College since 1980 as an instructor  for all law enforcement related courses.

Mr. Michael then moved on to serve as an investigator in the States Attoney’s Office before becoming the Chief of Police for the town of Rising Sun where he served until 2008. He currently works as a Detective Lieutenant for the Department of Public Safety and CorrectionalServices in the Internal Investigation Unit.

“I am entering this race because I know that I am highly qualified to be your Sheriff in Cecil County” says Michael. “As your Sheriff I would be keenly aware of and be involved in all the inner workings of the Sheriff’s Department.” My qualifications and [the] experience that I would bring to the office of Sheriff would benefit Cecil County. I intend to lead the Department into the future and raise the quality of law enforcement in Cecil County.” he continued.

When asked about the increasing trend of violent crime in the county he stressed the need for more manpower. “In comparison to other counties in the state we are behind in the number of officers we utilize. Harford County for example, has 300 sworn deputies and 150 correctional officers and, although they have a higher population, we are far behind them” he said. “This is mainly due to budgetary shortfalls. Police work is like a business in that there has to be a proper budget in place to fund it which is why I would be a strong advocate in lobbying county officials for a budget increase” he said.

When asked for his thoughts on the contributing factors to the high increase of violent crime in Cecil county (a nearly 12% uptick), he attributed it to two factors: drugs and the poor economy. “Drugs are prevalent all over the county. Most of the crimes in the county whether it be theft, burglary or violence are drug related” he said. “Education and training are also crucial factors in combating the drug problem” says Michael. We need to not only have more deputies out on patrols but we need to have better trained deputies so they are more knowledgeable in the latest techniques.”

Communication is also an important factor in fighting local crime according to Mr. Michael. “Overall cooperation between state, county and local jurisdictions is just not where it should be and information is not flowing between agencies as it should” he says “I have personal friends in all of the local law enforcement agencies and it would be a priority of mine to use these relationships to build a strong county wide network of agencies to assist the drug task force in getting narcotics off county streets” he said.

When asked about gang violence he points out that gang activity is not to the point where it is out of control in Cecil County yet but he advocates for a strong proactive approach. “We need to get ahead of this because we could find ourselves in a situation similar to Harford County where certain areas like Edgewood are becoming focal points for gang activity” he said. “If we don’t get on top of the drug problem in this county we will find ourselves in a very similar situation where gangs will begin to move in more and more and set up shop. This is why we need more manpower now before it’s too late”

While The Examiner will not endorse any candidate we strongly encourage readers to take a closer look at this candidate. Mr. Alan Michael is well informed with fresh ideas and has extensive experience in law enforcement making him fully qualified to lead the counties’ law enforcement efforts.

We have reached out to all the candidates in the race for Sheriff and will report further as they make themselves available. The Cecil County Examiner aims to provide fair and balanced coverage of this election to residents and we thank Mr. Alan Michael for making himself available for our questions.

FATAL SHOOTING IN ELKTON

Saturday June 5 2010

De. Man made false 911 call to Elkton Police

A Delaware man who made a false 911 call early Saturday morning was fatally wounded after he exchanged gunfire with responding police officers.

The man is identified as Dwayne M. Williams, 30. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The two Elkton Police Department officers involved in the shooting are not being identified by their department at this time. One is an 11-year police veteran with three years of service in Elkton. The other has been an officer for 16 years, including 14 with the Elkton Police Department. 

Elkton Police Chief William Ryan Sr. requested the police involved shooting be investigated by the Maryland State Police. Investigators from the State Police Homicide Unit responded and are conducting the investigation. A member of the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office also responded to the scene and has been briefed on the investigation. 

The preliminary investigation indicates that shortly after 12:00 a.m. Saturday, a 911 call was received in Cecil County from a male caller who said there was a man with a gun in the parking lot of the North Side Pharmacy, in the 700-block of North Bridge Street, in Elkton. He requested police respond to the scene.

Two Elkton Police Department officers responded. The first officer to arrive saw a pickup truck parked in the lot with a male occupant, later identified as Williams. Moments later, the second officer pulled into the lot and saw Williams holding a gun as he got out of his truck. The officer yelled a warning to the first officer at the scene, as both officers saw Williams raise his gun and point it at the first officer.  

In fear for their lives, both Elkton officers fired their department-issued Sig Sauer .45 caliber pistols. Williams fired his gun at the first officer. Williams was wounded and police immediately summoned emergency medical services personnel. Williams was determined to be deceased at the scene. Neither officer was struck by gunfire in the exchange. 

State Police investigators found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun beside Williams at the scene. They also found Williams’ cell phone at the scene and verified the call to 911 came from his phone. 

Maryland State Police investigators worked with police in Delaware to locate Williams’ parents, who were his closest relatives. During a search of Williams’s residence, where he lived alone, troopers found an apparent suicide note.

Williams’ body has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. At this time, police do not know the motive for his actions or what his connection to Elkton was. 

Both officers have been placed on routine administrative leave by Chief Ryan, which is procedure, pending the outcome of the investigation by State Police. The investigation is continuing.