The former secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said he has no regrets about leaving his job in March, two months into Gov. Larry Hogan’s second term.
His successor, Robert Green, former Montgomery County director of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, assumed the state position this month.
Former Secretary Stephen Moyer said he ran from the Mid-Atlantic cold when returning to Sarasota, Florida, to assume the position of public safety director for the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System.
“I owned a house in Florida, and my house was sitting empty for 18 months. So when an opportunity presented itself in Sarasota, I announced that I was leaving,” he said.
Moyer said in an interview that he had “totally enjoyed” his position as secretary, but that he has no regrets about stepping down. “My plan was always to come back to Florida,” he said.
Former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening said when told of Moyer’s plans to leave, “I told him that it was our state’s loss … but it will be Sarasota’s gain.” He said Moyer left Maryland “with pride.”
Moyer worked closely with Glendening during his time as governor, assuming the position of commander of the internal affairs unit for the Maryland State Police and helping to facilitate the security detail for Art Modell — the owner of the Cleveland Browns when the team relocated to Baltimore.
Moyer had left Maryland for Sarasota before, serving as deputy police chief for the city’s police department from 2013 to 2015.
He landed his current position at Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System because of his familiarity with the area and prior experience, he said. Moyer previously worked as the security director for the University of Maryland Medical Center –- a role with similar responsibilities to the one he holds now.
Moyer’s resumé touts 24 years with the Maryland State Police, employment on the staff of three governors and work in juvenile justice reform.
He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in biology and then attended the state police academy, where he served 24 years.
After being recruited by Hogan during his first term, Moyer was responsible for the July 2015 closure of the Baltimore City Detention Center, which he accomplished in four weeks by sitting down with the corrections team and figuring out how to shift the decreasing jail population to other facilities.
Moyer said that was the greatest achievement of his career. “No inmate or pretrial detainee should be held there, and my staff should not be working in there,” he said. “It was barbaric.”
He stated from Florida that he’d like to be there when the facility is demolished. “I may even make a special trip back to watch when they start to do that,” he said, stating that he believes it should be replaced by a “therapeutic treatment center.”
The former secretary said his extensive background in corruption-busting is what caused Hogan to reach out to him initially. Upon his appointment, Moyer met with Rod Rosenstein, then-U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, to discuss hiring retired police officers with wire-tapping experience to oust corrupt correctional officers. According to a September 2018 DPSCS press release, at the end of the year-long investigation, Moyer and his team were responsible for the arrests of over 125 people.
Moyer said he committed to Hogan that he would help eradicate corruption and get him through his first term, but he made no promises of sticking around for a second.
When asked to comment on Moyer’s departure, the governor’s office wrote that “he was instrumental in fulfilling our administration’s pledge to root out prison corruption in the state system.” The governor said he wished him “continued success in Florida and in his future endeavors.”
Though Moyer said he is now focused on his new life in Florida, he didn’t rule out returning to the Old Line State for work. “Never say never,” the former secretary said.