Town, the Mount and sheriff’s office begin party crack downs

(4/17) Emmitsburg has three community deputies and at any given time, as many as two of them may patrol the streets. However, on Friday night, April 11, six deputies were on the streets of Emmitsburg.

The saturation patrol is the first visible result of a community meeting held at the Sleep Inn with representatives from Emmitsburg, Mount St. Mary’s University and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

On the evening of April 11, deputies made 12 vehicle stops, issued five tobacco citations, one underage drinking citation and arrested one female juvenile for stealing liquor from a town business.

“The deputies were hampered slightly by rain and thundershowers,” said Cpl. Jennifer Bailey with the sheriff’s office.

Because the saturation patrol was funded through a Proactive and Aggressive Community Enforcement Grant, Bailey said she expects future patrols in the Emmitsburg area and around the county as complaints warrant them.

Complaints that warranted attention from the sheriff’s office have been coming into the town office for the past year and a half, according to Town Manager Dave Haller.

“Most of the complaints fielded here have been about young people and it has intensified a bit over that time,” Haller said.

For rental homes that seem to be the site of frequent parties, Haller sent letters to the property owners letting them know that town ordinances do not allow for residents to be a constant disturbance.

“If the problem is ongoing, we will verify it and issue a fine the next time it happens,” Haller said.

The meeting at the Sleep Inn earlier in April was a way to bring residents together with three enforcement agencies in town to hear residents’ problems and then find ways the agencies could work together to solve them.

“The intent is to keep it at a staff level with the three organizations working together,” said Mayor James Hoover.

One such cooperative approach, Hoover said, is that anytime the police are called about a party, on their way to the party, the deputies call the Mount security office. Mount security will also go to the site with a student roster to see who is at the party and whether the partiers are underage.

Haller said a follow-up meeting with residents would probably be held in June to get a feel for how well the enforcement agencies are responding to residents’ concerns.