Crime & Safety

News Nearby: Cardin Touts National Blue Alert Act in Rockville

Blue Alert Act would create a national network to help catch violent criminals who injure or kill police officers, similar to the Amber Alert system.

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin marked National Police Week with a visit to Rockville’s new police station Monday, where he touted a national law enforcement initiative called the Blue Alert Act of 2013.

The Blue Alert Act would create a national network similar to the Amber Alert system to help catch violent criminals who injure or kill police officers.

Maryland is already among 18 states to implement such a system. Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an executive order creating Maryland’s Blue Alert system shortly after the death of Maryland State trooper Wesley Brown.

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Brown was murdered outside a Forestville restaurant in June 2010.

“We have no national coordination,” Cardin said. “We don't have a way to share best practices. What you're doing in Maryland should be shared with other states.”

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Cardin (D) was joined by Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio and Rockville City Police Chief Terry N. Treschuk, who pushed for the bill’s passage.

“We stand behind and with Senator Cardin urging congressional action on the national blue alert system,” Treschuk said Monday.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, who also spoke Monday, said 17 police officers have died while in service in Montgomery County.

“The audacity, the gall, the will and the determination to do that means that everyone else is vulnerable,” Leggett (D) said. “Having an alert system that aids and assists in trying to identify and brings public attention to that type of person is a must.”

“Just look at the recent incidents in Boston, when we saw that a police officer’s life was taken,” Leggett said Monday.

Cardin introduced the bill in February and has already picked up 13 co-sponsors.


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