June 4, 2020

Carla Reid
General Manager
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
14501 Sweitzer Lane
Laurel, MD 20707

Dear General Manager Reid:

I write today in regards to Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (“WSSC’s”) Police
Department. As you are aware, state law closely guards how WSSC ratepayer dollars can be
used and, therefore, as a state legislator I have an interest in understanding some of the lesser-
known aspects of WSSC’s budget.

According to WSSC’s FY 2021 Proposed Budget, approximately $6 million is allocated for

“Police and Homeland Security Office”.1 The WSSC Police was created at the request of the
utility by the General Assembly in 2002, largely in response to security concerns in the wake of
the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to WSSC’s website, the main objective of the police
department is the “protection of the area’s water supply and infrastructure against sabotage or
acts of terrorism.”2 These are certainly worthy goals and I share the view that our water
infrastructure is critical and needs to be kept safe.

That said, it appears that water utility police forces are rare. The fiscal note from the 2002
legislation makes note that the major difference between WSSC’s then-existing Security and
Safety Services Group was access to particular types of information, such as criminal history
background checks.

1
“Proposed Budget: FY 2021” WSSC Water. January 2, 2020.
https://www.wsscwater.com/files/live/sites/wssc/files/Financial/FY2021%20Proposed%20Budge
t.pdf
2
“About the Police Department,” WSSC Water, https://www.wsscwater.com/about-us/our-
leadership/operations/police-and-homeland-security-div/police-department/about-the-police-
department.html)
I request the following information regarding the WSSC Police Department:
 Incident statistics regarding theft of service, destruction of property, or any other
investigated crime or incident category and arrests made by officers for the past five
years;
 Annual headcount of all officers and support staff since the creation of the Department in
2002;
 Annual headcounts of all officers and support staff of the prior Security and Safety
Services Group for the three years before the Department’s creation;
 Annual budget of the Department since creation;
 Annual budget of the prior Security and Safety Services Group for the three years before
the Department’s creation;
 Any type of peer benchmarking WSSC conducts on its Police Department or security
spending and examples of any peer systems with their own police forces.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. I would appreciate your response in
writing within 45 days. Thank you for your assistance and your work to ensure that our citizens
have access to clean and healthy water.

Sincerely,

Marc Korman