Posted on 04/18/23
| News Source: FOX45
After a months-long search, Baltimore County welcomed a new Chief of Police on Tuesday.
Chief Robert McCullough was sworn in during a ceremony at the Randallstown Community Center.
He leads a department of more than 1900 officers and is head of public safety for a jurisdiction of more than 800,000 residents.
“I believe that every person in Baltimore County deserves to feel safe,” said McCullough.
McCullough spent more than 35 years with the Baltimore County Police Department, initially retiring from the agency in 2021.
He is the department’s first African American Chief of Police.
During his remarks Tuesday afternoon, McCullough outlined a list of priorities for his tenure as Chief.
Those priorities include community policing, accountability, recruitment and retention of officers, safety in schools and places of faith – to name a few.
But McCullough told FOX45 News combating crime will be the department’s top priority under his leadership.
“Crime is first and foremost,” McCullough said. “I mean that’s what we’re hired to do, that’s what police do. We enforce the laws of the local jurisdiction and the state. We’ll be focused on crime. That’s what the citizens of this county want. They want us to protect them, they want us to keep crime at bay.”
When he was nominated for Chief of Police earlier this month, McCullough acknowledged that regional crime has no boundaries.
McCullough said he spoke with Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on Monday.