Upper Marlboro, Md. – February 27, 2020 – The Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff’s Domestic Violence Squad 20 reported securing 22 firearms at a home in Temple Hills Sunday night, February 22, 2020. Deputies completed service of an Interim Protective Order and an Extreme Risk Protective Order, which requires a respondent to temporarily surrender all firearms and ammunition to law enforcement and to not purchase or possess firearms and ammunition. The respondent complied with the order and surrendered 17 firearms registered with the Maryland State Police, along with 5 long guns, and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
The ERPO was created by the Maryland State Legislature’s House Bill 1302 and was supported by Sheriff High and the Office of the Sheriff. “This law is an important tool for law enforcement because it strengthened protections against gun violence and can be issued against an individual who presents an immediate and present danger to himself or others,” said Sheriff High. An ERPO can be obtained by a family member or another individual concerned about a person’s safety.
In the Sheriff’s Office, where deputies also serve court-ordered Emergency Petition Services (EPS) for mentally ill or distressed persons, the ERPO enables deputies to also confiscate weapons and ammunition.
Since the law became effective on October 1, 2018 and as of October 2019, Sheriff’s deputies have served 77 ERPOs, 26 of which were Emergency Petition Services, and collected 204 firearms and over 46,000 rounds of ammunition.