Evening star., 1949-08-06
0rn1e Confident
of Windication'
After Custer
z Council Members
Decline Comment
In Police Dispute
BY j. B. Zotmon

Charles M. Orme, who was re-
lieved of his duties as Montgom-
cry County police chief yesterday
by County Manager Irving G..
McNayr. is confident he will be
"vindicated" when the County
Council meets Tuesday to act on
Mr.. McNayrs request for the
chiefs permanent removal from
office.
Pending the councils action.
Detective Inspector James S. Nc
Auliffe will serve as acting chief.
Mr.. McNayr said he suspended
the chief because of what he said
in story in The Star Thursday.
Chief Orme was quoted in the
article as saying the use of only
one man in police cruisers might
spread police coverage too thin"
and result in inadequate protec-
ton of county residents.
The one-man police car plan.
which was authorized by the coun-
Gil on recommendation of Mr..
McNayr. went into effect Monday.
Previously, there were two men
assigned to each cars
"Other Matters" Held Involved.
In explaining his order. Mr.. Nc
Nayr said that in a military or
semimilitary organization a sub
ordinate receiving an order car
ries it out to the best of his ability
without complaining about 1t to
his men or to the public. He
added there were "other matters"
involved in the suspension. but
refused to elaborate.
Chief Orme insisted last night
he had not violated any rule cr
regulation, nor had he failed to
carry out any directive Of the
council or the county manager.
He said Mr.. McNayr's action
came as a surprise to him He
added Mr.. McNayr had never ex-
pressed any dissatisfaction with
his work.
Thomas c. Kelley. acting coun-
Gil president, said. he assumed"
Mr.. McNayr woula-present his le-
quest for the police chiefs dis
missal at the opening Of the
council meeting at 2 pm. Tues
day. He refused to comment on
the suspension order. however.
Another council member. DR..
Lewis Merriam. said he heard OF
previous disagreements between
Mr.. McNayr and Chief Orme, but
refused further comment. The
five other council members could
not be reached.
Order Put on Teletypes.
Formal notification Of Mr.. Nc
Nayr's suspension order was con-
tanned in a police teletype message
flashed to police stations at Rock
vile, Bethesda and Silver Spring
shortly after l pm. 1t was effective
as of noon yesterday. In the or
der, Mr.. McNayr designated In
spector McAuliffe as acting chief
pending q final decision by the
council.
About an hour later the Mont
gomery County Press Association.
when notified of the order at its
meeting. adopted resolution "de-
ploring" the action. The group
asked that the council hold
public hearing on the McNayr re-
quest and designated COMMITTEES
of three members to attend.
Mr.. Orme has served twice as
police chief. His first appoint
ment to the Office was made in
February, 1889. Before that, he
had had 10 years of duty in the
county sheriff's Office.
In June. 1910, he was dismissed
by the then Board of County
Commissioners after complaints
were received that he failed to
prevent a Rockville crowd from
trying to force members of the
Jehovah's Witnesses to salute the
flag.
The angry mob had broken
into the interior of the sect's
headquarters in Rockville. Mr..
Orme was reported to have been
at his home at the time and the
crowd dispersed before he arrived.
He said police had not intervened
in spite of orders he had given
them to be on the alert for the
| trouble.