Pa. deploying 300 troopers to help in Baltimore

Pennsylvania State Police are sending about 300 troopers to Baltimore beginning Thursday in  response to Maryland’s emergency request for help restoring calm to the city’s streets.

The deployment is expected is cost $200,000 a day, which the state of Maryland will pay back later, said Trooper Adam Reed, a State Police spokesman.

“Certainly we’re hoping for peace and calm when were down there,” said Reed of the deployment expected to last several days.

Pennsylvania troopers will join 2,000 National Guard members and an unknown number of other police personnel who have joined Baltimore City Police this week to enforce nightly curfews set to continue until Monday.

The 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was ordered Tuesday after riots interrupted protests following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died from injuries suffered while in police custody.

Pennsylvania troopers last offered this kind of emergency assistance during a 2012 deployment to New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy.

“You know, it’s part of law enforcement work,” Reed said. “You just don’t know what to expect on a daily basis.”