By Scott Daugherty
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Annapolis’ new top cop doesn’t plan to head the department from behind a desk.
After just one month on the job, City Police Chief Michael Pristoop helped nab a suspected drug dealer on College Creek Terrace.
And a department spokesman said that May 16 arrest - made while Chief Pristoop was walking a beat with another officer - should be only the first of many.
“His style is to be close to the officers and hands-on,” said Officer Hal Dalton, city police spokesman, explaining the chief plans to join his officers on the streets as much as possible.
“This was just the beginning of that. … People can expect him to do this from time to time.”
According to a police report, Chief Pristoop and Cpl. Duane Daniels were walking along College Creek Terrace at about 2 p.m. May 16 when they saw a man standing on a street corner. Cpl. Daniels said they were in the area because community members had been complaining about violence and drug dealing.
Chief Pristoop and Cpl. Daniels started questioning the man, later identified as Darrio Darrell Smith, 24, of College Creek Terrace.
During the course of the interview, Mr. Smith became upset and reached into his pocket. Cpl. Daniels told Mr. Smith to stop reaching into his pocket and then patted down Mr. Smith to see if he was armed.
Cpl. Daniels and Chief Pristoop found a bag of chips filled with 15 small plastic bags of marijuana, three vials of marijuana and $808 in cash.
Mr. Smith was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
“It was clear from the beginning his handcuffs weren’t going to get rusty,” said Alderman David H. Cordle Sr., R-Ward 5, referring to Chief Pristoop. Mr. Cordle heads the city Public Safety Committee.
Officer Dalton said city residents should expect more foot patrols under Chief Pristoop - regardless of whether the chief is pounding the pavement along with his troops.
“He’s encouraging and directing more of them,” said Officer Dalton.
Chief Pristoop, 42, served 21 years in the Baltimore City Police Department, ultimately serving as a major in command of the city’s Northern District. He took over the Department of General Services police in 2007, but left in April to replace Police Chief Joseph S. Johnson as the head of the Annapolis Police Department.
Officer John Lee, the president of the city police union, commended the chief for his commitment to foot patrols and his willingness to join his troops on the road.
“It’s nice to have a chief … that came up through the ranks and knows how to do police work,” he said.
Officer Lee recalled how Chief Johnson would walk the beat with officers in the early 1990s when he first took over the department, but he added that was “when he was a much younger man.”
Still, Officer Lee stressed the department won’t be able to keep running the foot patrols if the city doesn’t start hiring more officers and staff-up the department.
“For the time-being we are burning the candle at both ends,” he said.
Copyright 2008 The Capital