Phillips v. Ober

Marbury, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Appellant, who described himself as a property owner and taxpayer of the City of Baltimore engaged in the roofing and buildings improvements business in said city, brought his bill of complaint on behalf of himself and of all others similarly situated, in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City against the appellee as Police Commissioner for Baltimore City. The purpose of the bill was to restrain the Commissioner from eliminating the police district of the city known as the Western Police District, and from abandoning or discontinuing the use of the police station on Pine Street known as the Western Police Station building. The Commissioner demurred, and the chancellor sustained the demurrer and dismissed the bill.

From this decree the appellant appealed. The bill alleges that the City of Baltimore is divided into police districts, one of which has been for many years the Western Police District, in which the complainant operates his business; that, for many-years, ¹⁶⁹ there has been located in that area a police station known as the Western Police Station, which was acquired for such use, and is owned in fee simple by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, as evidenced by a deed dated October 31, 1876, and duly recorded; that the police station is used as a place of assembly for the policemen assigned to said district, houses detention quarters and cells for prisoners awaiting trial, offices for the ranking police officers of the district, and a court room presided over by the justice of the peace specially assigned to sit therein. The bill of complaint further alleges that the Commissioner has publicly stated, and has also advised the complainant, that he will direct, as of a certain definite date, that the said Western Police District be permanently abolished as a police division of the City of Baltimore, and that the use of the building known as the Western Police Station building will be abandoned, and its use discontinued. The bill then goes on to allege that the Police Commissioner is not clothed with such authority; that his actions would eliminate the magistrate’s court for that district, and would deprive the people of their right to apply to that court, and that his action would therefore be a usurpation and nullification of the power and direction to the Governor to assign a magistrate to such station, made by the Legislature; that the elimination of the police district and station house would encourage increased commission of crimes, would endanger the health, safety, and lives of the people of the district, and people as a whole, and would be injurious and inimical to the interests of the people of the City.' The question raised is the proper construction of Sec. 556 of the Charter and Public Local Laws of Baltimore City (1949 Ed.) This section provides that the Police Commissioner of Baltimore City “may divide the City into such number of police districts as he may think necessary for the public good; and if found practicable, * * * he may provide additional station houses with all necessary appurtenances as may be found needful and ¹⁷⁰ necessary, and such, accommodations as may be requisite for the police force.” These provisions are not new.

Section 12 of Chapter 7 of the Acts of 1860, codified as Sec. 815 of Article 4 of Mackall’s Code of Public Local Laws (1860) empowered the Board of Police, at that time established and put in charge of the policing of Baltimore, to “divide the City into the needful number of police districts”. In 1867, by Sec. 819 of Chapter 367 of the Acts of that year, the Board of Police Commissioners for the City of Baltimore, to be elected by the Legislature, and given police authority over the City by that act, were authorized “to divide the city into such number of police districts as they may think necessary for the public good”. In 1898, by Chapter 123, Article 4 of the Code of Public Local Laws, entitled “City of Baltimore”, was repealed in its entirety and re-enacted. Section 754 of this re-enactment authorized the Board of Police Commissioners to “divide the City into such number of police districts as they may think necessary for the public good”.

By Chapter 559 of the Acts of 1920, the Police Commissioners were abolished, and the Governor was authorized to appoint a Police Commissioner for the City of Baltimore. Such a commissioner was