500 People Attend New Harford County Sheriff's Swearing-In Ceremony

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office provided the following statement on Monday night after Jeffrey R. Gahler was sworn in as the new sheriff.

Tonight, in front of nearly 500 people, Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler officially took office as the Sheriff of the Harford County. Each part of the ceremony was carried out by a sworn member the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, representing all ranks.

Clerk of the Circuit Court, James Reilly, administered the Oath to Sheriff Gahler and all sworn members of
the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, with Sheriff Gahler’s family standing by his side.

During the Sheriff’s speech, he offered his thanks to everyone who helped him along his journey to become Sheriff, putting an emphasis on his family and friends. Sheriff Gahler also recognized the great men who held the office of Sheriff in prior years, saying: “It is my hope that I can make each of these men proud, as I follow in the path they have forged.”

Gahler rounded out the Command Staff when in the course of his speech, he named Major John (Jack) R. Simpson to the Administrative Services Bureau, Major William Davis to the Police Operations Bureau, and finally, Major Michael Gullion to the Correctional Services Bureau.

Last month, he announced the first two key appointments to his Command Staff: Colonel Steven Bodway and Warden Michael Capasso. Each has extensive experience in law enforcement and corrections.

Specifically:

Major John (Jack) R. Simpson–Administrative Services Bureau; Jack Simpson retired as a Major from
the Maryland State Police serving for 28 years. As a command officer, he led the Criminal
Investigation Division, the Special Operations Command, a Barrack, a Troop consisting of multiple Barracks and two Regions consisting of all Field Operations installations, which included tactical, patrol, investigations and Community Policing components. Major Simpson was the Assistant Chief for the Support Services Bureau, which included Licensing and Regulatory components.

Simpson has a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland University College and an M.S.
in Management from Johns Hopkins University, graduating from its Police Executive Leadership Program. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Executive Director of the Maryland Vehicle Theft
Prevention Council and an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice for the University Of Maryland University
College.

Major William Davis–Police Operations Bureau; William Davis most recently served as the Assistant
Director of Public Safety for the Community College of Baltimore County. Prior to his appointment with the
Community College of Baltimore County, he served as a Major in the Baltimore Police Department and
Commanding Officer for the Southeastern District. In this position, Major Davis oversaw the daily police
operations of more than 200 officers, sergeants, lieutenants and civilian personnel. His responsibilities included the development and deployment of crime prevention and response strategies as well as cultivating and sustaining solid partnerships with community and business leaders within the City of Baltimore. Over the course of 25 years with the Baltimore Police Department, Major Davis worked in a variety of roles, progressing from patrol assignments to criminal investigative positions. These included working on federal task forces and as the commanding officer of district detectives and operations units.

Davis holds an M.S. in Management from Johns Hopkins University and currently serves adjunct
faculty in the Johns Hopkins University’s Division of Public Safety Leadership. Major Davis is also a recent
graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior Management Institute for Police.

Major Michael Gullion—Correctional Service Bureau; Michael Gullion currently serves as the Support
Services Commander at the Harford County Detention Center. During the course of his 22-year career, he has served as Commander of two divisions within Corrections. As Operations Commander, he was responsible for 116 staff to include Security Operations, Gang Intel Unit, Correctional Response Team
and K9 Unit. As Inter Agency Processing Center Commander, he supervised 45 staff members who were
responsible for the processing, booking, release and transportation of all inmates who are processed
through the Harford County Detention Center. As Training Coordinator, he developed and coordinated the first Correctional Entrance Level Academy to proactively address the multitude of issues that face the
Correctional staff on a daily basis.

In addressing the needs of inmates with mental illness, Major Gullion is a Crisis Intervention Team member and is currently serving as the security liaison for the Behavioral Health Unit in order to provide for a safer correctional environment for all. He has also served on numerous community organization advisory boards, which provides the community a proactive understanding of corrections in Harford County and provides a community corrections approach to the Harford County Detention Center. Major Gullion has completed both the Harford Leadership Academy and the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Center Leadership Challenge, and served as a mentor to other sessions.

Changes Ahead for Harford County Sheriff’s Office

Sheriff Gahler spoke of the changes and reduction of the number of Majors and Bureaus being a response to an initial assessment of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. He has directed that the number of Bureaus be reduced from five to four and that there be a reduction in the number of majors from five to three. This top-to-bottom review of the organizational structure of the Office of the Sheriff will better address emerging crime patterns and trends, reduce crime, and improve quality of life through citizen partnerships. Sheriff Gahler will continue his assessment of the Office and efforts will be directed at reducing violent crimes and increasing the safety and security of our friends and neighbors.

Sheriff Gahler assured the crowd saying, “The Sheriff’s Office is a productive and professional law enforcement organization that is dedicated to the community’s needs. Our goal moving forward will be to build on crime reduction, crime prevention, community partnerships and professional standards. You do not deserve, and I will not accept, the status quo.”

Sheriff Gahler closed the event by telling his deputies, “from my new commanders and I, we vow to ensure
that the Harford County Sheriff’s Office is simply the finest organization that you always hoped it would be
and a place that will inspire and instill confidence in you each and every day.”

Photo Credit: Harford County Sheriff’s Office.