Little Support in FOP for Sheriff; More Deputies Plan to Leave County

GREAT MILLS ---  An 'emergency' meeting of the local Fraternal Order of Police called by Deputy William Raddatz, the leader of the St. Mary's group resulted in only six deputies showing up for a meeting called for the purpose of writing a letter supporting keeping law enforcement with the St. Mary's Sheriff's Department instead of being transferred to a new county police department.

According to law enforcement sources, the FOP Prez Raddatz couldn't even get someone in the group to write a letter to local papers saying the group would support the Sheriff. With more than 100 deputies on the agency, the poor turnout for this latest meeting doesn't bode well for Sheriff David Zylak.  

While two deputies have left in the last month to join other agencies, another three are close to leaving.

Prince George's County is offering lateral transfers to experienced officers and it is expected that several more St. Mary's deputies will leave to go to work in that agency, without losing any rank, pay or time on the job.