Your acceptance of your diploma today signifies that you understand
the challenges of your profession, that you respect and promise to up-
hold the traditions of the Maryland State Police and that you are pre-
pared to shoulder the great responsibilities that are being conferred
upon you. As guardians of the peace and protectors of the citizens, you
will have authority that must be exercised with restraint and with respect
for individual rights. We are asking you today to go forth and uphold
the laws of Maryland. We are asking you to do this with courtesy, but
not without courage, with tact but not without tenacity, with pride but
not with prejudice.

In a very true sense, the task that faces you in the future will be more
difficult than that which faced your predecessors. In many cases you
may be faced with situations which involve citizens who are not habitual
criminals, who do have a high regard for the law but who feel that it is
necessary to dramatize their opposition to a particular law through civil
disobedience. In coping with such situations, you will be compelled to
call upon the training that you have received here and I am confident
that you will not be found wanting.

Many of you, of course, will specialize in various fields of law enforce-
ment but the majority of you here today will be required to exercise
your talents in seeking to reduce the death toll on Maryland highways.
This is no easy task and it is one that has concerned me since my election
as chief executive of this State. The magnitude of the problem you face
can be better understood by pointing out that the reason this class is so
large is because the State must make 35 troopers available for highway
patrol duty on the newly opened Northeast Expressway. The death toll
on our highways has soared above 500 and the only effective solution
that I can see rests with you. The weekly reports I receive from Colonel
Jarman have convinced me that our two biggest enemies on Maryland
highways are liquor and excessive speed. If you gentlemen here today
will dedicate yourselves to the elimination of these two factors, you will
have performed an invaluable service to this State and its citizens. I can
assure you that in this endeavor you will receive my wholehearted
cooperation.

There is no other agency in this State of which I am more proud than
the State Police. Quite frequently, I receive letters from people who live
in distant states and even foreign countries who have encountered
difficulty in Maryland and who were subsequently assisted by a State

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