Steve Hall for Sheriff

ST. MARY'S SHERIFF'S CANDIDATE IS THERE WHEN WE NEED HIM

I urge all of us to pay close attention to the St. Mary’s County sheriff’s race in the upcoming primary election. I urge all of us to vote for Capt. Steve Hall.

I first met Steve one scorching summer afternoon when a residential neighborhood next door had a domestic shooting. I was puzzled when I arrived back from delivering food to beltway customers and saw a Maryland State Police helicopter incessantly circling over our farm’s acres of forest and crop fields. Within minutes of me parking our truck, the St. Mary’s SWAT team and six other officers had swarmed our peaceful farm, armed and armored to the hilt.

I was told the shooter had fled to our land. It was tense, loud, and 98° in the shade. Ten minutes after that, Capt. Hall arrived; 15 minutes after that, even more St. Mary’s officers.

What I lived that day made me both a rock-solid supporter of Steve Hall and greatly reinforced my appreciation for our sheriff’s office. Once Steve arrived, the body language of the other officers changed: they no longer appeared tense and worried and on edge, but calmer, perfectly alert, fully controlled. I didn’t know who this uniformed man was, only that the 20-plus officers who had invaded our farm became more confident.

Steve introduced himself and treated me with respect and deference. He got that I was a farmer who still had many livestock and crop chores to do in spite of this problem. When I later suggested to Steve that a felon trying to hide on our farm might choose places the state helicopter could not see, and that I could show him where I’d go if I were pursued by the law, Steve agreed that we should walk. He became the forward scout for his deputies and for that helicopter.

What was most impressive was Steve’s valor and concern for his people; he, with much less body armor and only a side-arm and no automatic rifle, chose to look for the perpetrator ahead of the lower-ranking officers. That is valor. That is leading by example. That is what we need in our next sheriff.


After three such hours, the day ended with the shooter being caught 4 miles away, not on our farm. But the hot day was not done for Steve Hall. At 7 p.m. that night, I got a call from Sheriff Tim Cameron (R), who Steve had called. Sheriff Cameron thanked me for being a good host, and for the ice water and watermelons I had brought to those men and women sweltering in black uniforms and heavy body armor that torrid summer day. Steve had dotted the i’s. That’s what Steve does. And our sheriff’s office had again shown why it is so good.

I am 62. I have lived across the U.S., in small New England towns and in big cities like Arlington, Va., Oakland, Calif., and Chicago. Only in St. Mary’s have I had officers so integrated in the community, so respectful, so professional.

We need Steve Hall to continue that legacy of true public service. Since then I have asked Steve for help three times: twice for employees who needed legal guidance against felons, once for community events that needed calm and reasoned police presence. All three times Steve answered and helped within 2 hours. That is great police behavior. That is responsiveness.

Steve Hall is what we all need. Please vote for a great future sheriff, Steve Hall.

Brett Grohsgal, Lexington Park