Crime & Safety

New Captain Takes Command at Essex Precinct

Capt. Steven Hlavach, 44, takes over for Mike DiPaula, who retired last month after spending 35 years with the Baltimore County Police Department.

Baltimore County Capt. Steven Hlavach said he looks forward to engaging with the community over the next few months as the new precinct commander at the Essex Precinct.

Hlavach said the key to being a quality police officer is understanding the needs of residents and keeping the lines of communication open between officers and the community.

However, being proactive with residents to solve crimes of all types is something Hlavach knows will require some getting used to again.

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The 44-year-old White Marsh resident comes to Essex after spending the last two years as head of the special services section of the support operations division. There, he commanded the aviation, hostage negotiation and marine teams along with the K9 and tactical units.

“Those units get a lot of attention for the high profile incidents they deal with,” Hlavach said. “While [those units] are glorified often in the media, much of the work we do with those units are reactionary once a crime has been committed. I look forward to working directly with residents again in a proactive matter.”

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Despite his most recent assignment, Hlavach said he is no stranger to working in a precinct.

The New Jersey native arrived in Maryland in 1990 when he joined the Baltimore City Police Department. He spent four years there as a patrol officer before joining the Anne Arundel County Police Department, where he worked in the community outreach, narcotics and robbery units.

Hlavach, a married father of two, joined the Baltimore County Police Department in 1999. Through the years, he worked in the Woodlawn, White Marsh and North Point precincts, working his way up the ranks before being promoted to captain in 2008. He spent a year with records management before moving to his most recent assignment.

“Once you work in a precinct, you never forget how it works,” Hlavach said. “It’s great to be interacting with officers in the community, going over the daily reports and really getting to the heart of what impacts a community.”

Hlavach said he is excited about working in Essex and understands he is following in the footsteps of some well-respected commanders. Among them is .

Another former Essex Precinct commander is police Chief Jim Johnson.

“I plan on continuing to provide the high-quality of service that those commanders did before me,” said Hlavach, who played linebacker at Rutgers University in the mid- to late-1980s. “I plan on having an open-door policy for those in the community and plan on meeting with as many groups as possible over the next few months.”

Hlavach stressed the Essex-Middle River residents have nothing to worry about in terms of quality of service in 2012 and beyond following the retirement of DiPaula and many other members of the command staff. Many of those that

“We’ve gone through periods like this before,” Hlavach said. “The great thing is that many of those that have retired helped mentor me and others that are now coming up the ranks. We learned a lot from them and I plan on being here for a long time to serve the residents of the Essex Precinct.”


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