Thurmont names new police chief
department’s staff shortages may soon be over

By Nicole Belanger
Contributing Writer

On Oct. 4 Thurmont commissioners unanimously approved Mayor Marty Burn’s recommendation of Major Gregory Eyler as the town’s new police chief.

Eyler started his career in May 1979, as a Thurmont police officer. He attended training at the Montgomery County police academy. In Nov. 1980 he left to work for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

During his 25 years at the sheriff’s office, Eyler has held a number of positions. He has been commander of operations, commander of the SWAT team, commander of criminal investigations, and most recently, commander of the administrative services division. He also handles any homeland security issues, and wrote the terrorist incident plan for the sheriff’s office.

Eyler told The Dispatch, “I’m looking forward to the job, and I’m very honored it was a unanimous decision by the board.”

He said the job would be a challenge, and a positive one. The lifelong Thurmont resident said, “I’m looking forward to coming back to Thurmont and use all my experience in service to my community.”

Eyler will assume his new duties Dec. 1. He replaces former police chief Terry Frushour who retired several months ago.

Staffing shortages that have plagued the police department for several years may also be coming to an end with the hiring of several new recruits and a promising pool of applicants available to fill the last two vacant slots.

“We have some new people who are very positive and energetic. Things are wonderful and everybody’s happy,” said town commissioner Ron Terpko, also the liaison to the police department.

A fully staffed department means 11 officers and one chief, but over the past several years, officers have had to work overtime and county sheriff’s deputies have been helping to cover shortages.

Former officers have left to pursue police jobs with higher career ladders, such as with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office or the Westminster City Police Department.

“People always have goals and dreams and want more opportunities than we can give them,” Terpko said.

Frushour retired after serving on the force for 27 years, two of them as chief. The sheriff’s office immediately appointed one of their lieutenants, Ted Nee, as acting chief. Nee has focused on helping town officials fill vacancies.

“Staffing has definitely been the biggest issue I’ve had to deal with,” Nee said.

During an especially tough time about a month ago, there were only six officers to handle calls, but they pitched in, stayed late and were able to handle everything, according to Nee.

Despite the crunch, residents have always had adequate police protection, town officials say.

Besides the five seasoned officers already on the force, two new recruits, Bradley Koenig and Mark Debord, just joined over the summer, and Officer DiAnne Tackett will complete her 10-week field training later this month to join new Officer Bill Murray.

The two recruits are now in training at the state police academy in Sykesville and will be sworn in as officers in January. Nee is also filling the remaining two positions and has received 18 applications so far.

“It’s a real good candidate pool,” Nee said, adding that he is confident they will find competent recruits over the next several months to add to the force.

Town officials have been concerned about police department staffing for a long time and asked the state police commission to conduct a study to find out how to address the problem. The commission, which worked on the report for a year, made a couple of recommendations, including looking at the pay scale and building a new facility to replace the outdated and cramped location that currently houses the force.

The mayor and commissioners are addressing both issues and have an agreement with the county sheriff’s department to build a satellite office that will house both departments in Thurmont.

Once a memorandum of understanding is in place, architectural plans will be drawn up, Terpko said.

Separate from the police commission’s study, town commissioners are also studying the entire town’s employee pay scale, including police officers, to determine whether the pay is adequate.

“We really need to see if we are competitive. We may see that every branch head will need a raise in their salary. We’re trying to look at the future,” Burns said.