892

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

CHAP. 613.

and from among the five policemen so appointed the said
commissioners shall select one to be chief of police and one to
be assistant chief of police ; the policemen so appointed shall
be under the control and direction of the chief of such police;
and it shall be his duty to immediately report to the County
Commissioners any failure or neglect of duty or disobedience
of his orders of any of the members of said force; in the
event at any time of the absence of the chief of police from
said fifth election district, or his inability, from any cause, to
discharge the duties of his office, the duties of chief of police
shall devolve on the assistant chief of police, who shall then
have full power to act in place of said chief of police in every

Term
of office.

respect. The policemen appointed after the passage of this
Act shall serve until the first day of January, nineteen hun-
dred and four, and until their successors are duly appointed,
and thereafter such appointments shall be made every two
years. The County Commissioners shall have power at any
time at their pleasure to suspend without pay, or remove the
chief of police or any of the policemen so appointed for any
inefficiency, neglect of duty or violation of the rules of the
force, and appoint other officers in the place of any removed
or suspended, or to impose a reasonable fine for any breach of
duty, to be deducted from his pay ; and in case of a necessity
at any time for an increase of such police force in the judg-
ment of the County Commissioners for the preserving of the
peace, they shall have the power to temporarily appoint such
additional police officers for such length of time and at such
compensation as in their discretion shall be required.

Duty of
policemen.

103. It shall be the duty of said policemen at all times of
the day and night, when on duty under the direction and
orders of the chief of police, to preserve the public peace,
prevent crime being committed, and protect the rights of
persons and property, and to arrest all offenders against the
laws of the State, and to take all such offenders before the
police justice of said filth election district, and to this end
they shall have all the power and authority of county con-
stables.

Salary.

104. The pay of the chief of police shall be sixty-five
dollars per month, and each of the other policemen shall be
paid fifty dollars per month. The County Commissioners in
making their levy shall provide for the payment of the salaries
of said officers monthly. It shall be the duty of the County
Commissioners to arm and equip said policemen and make
such rules and regulations for their proper conduct and dis-
cipline as may be deemed best to insure their efficiency.