OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Calvert County Police Accountability Board Meeting - May 29, 2025

County Commissioners & Boards — Thursday, May 29, 2025
BodyCalvert County, Maryland
SessionCounty Commissioners & Boards
DateThursday, May 29, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:00:18

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good evening and welcome to the police accountability board meeting.

0:03

It is now 6 30, Wednesday 28th, 2025.

0:08

First thing on the agenda is take a minute to look at the actual agenda and approval of the agenda.

0:15

Recording in progress.

0:20

Are there any changes to the agenda?

0:27

Do I hear an approval as written?

0:29

I move to approve the agenda.

0:30

Yes.

0:31

Second.

0:33

All in favor?

0:34

Aye.

0:36

Agenda is approved as written.

0:40

Chair updates, the PAB ACC community outreach.

0:49

We have set up between the police accountability board and the ACC.

0:58

We're going to do three outreach programs later this year.

1:03

The dates are all confirmed.

1:05

Wednesday, July 16th at the Calvert Library, Wednesday, July 23rd, Southern Branch Library, and Wednesday, August 6th at the Twins Beach Branch Library.

1:19

Ed and I will be there, and there will be a representative from the Sheriff's Department at each one.

1:25

Any questions or comments on that?

1:29

You want PAB members to show up too?

1:31

Everybody is welcome to come.

1:34

If you're able to come to any of them, you're welcome to come.

1:53

As you can see from January 1 to May 13th, there were eight that were received.

2:00

Seven were reviewed by the ACC.

2:04

One complaint not eligible for review, meaning that it could have been for Maryland State Police, it could have been not involving a citizen, could have been detention center.

2:17

Cases pending ACC review is four.

2:20

Cases resulting in administrative charges is one.

2:25

ACC charge and agreement with the Sheriff's Office findings is one as well.

2:31

Any questions?

2:36

And Michael worked this up as a little more of a visual for the PAB complaint cases.

2:43

You can see it's follows what we just talked about, but it's just presented in more of a visual aspect.

2:53

Is that beneficial?

2:55

For me.

3:24

Due to budgetary restraints, this training will only be conducted at Sykesville at the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission.

3:34

So the training is not required.

3:40

It's highly recommended.

3:42

It's a time to refresh on the information that you previously received.

3:49

It's also a very good time to present questions or concerns that you might have as far as specific things that you want answered.

3:59

So it would definitely be something you do have to go online though, and you have to sign up and register for the class.

4:17

If anybody wants the link, you can copy the link and you just click on that then and it'll take you right to the form, fill out the form, and then they'll send you.

5:00

So there's a meeting videos, and here you can see maybe the meeting agendas as to going into the county website and where you can find these to review.

5:14

So if you had any questions or concerns, you could go back and check out a meeting.

5:24

Also didn't work.

5:37

There are positions that are up for renewal this year or replacement.

5:42

Currently on the PAB, we have two vacant positions.

5:48

So these will all need to be filled.

5:50

And this is where you would go to apply to become send your application in for them to consider.

6:02

Any questions?

6:04

I don't think it really concerns anybody here particularly.

6:12

The PAB trending analysis.

6:42

Complaints by the sheriff policies, how they've been addressed, the types of discipline that was provided for the different policy violations, complaints by calls for service, meaning the sheriff's office, I think if I correct, over a hundred, was it over a hundred thousand last year?

7:10

Calls of service, I believe.

7:14

And they have currently 171 officers, so that's a lot of calls for officers to address.

7:26

Um since July of 22, we've had uh like 15, 16, I think, officers that have been issued or had issues addressed with them through the sheriff's office and the ACC.

7:42

So that's a that's a pretty good um number if you look at it that way.

7:47

Year to year comparisons.

7:50

One thing that was also suggested by the ACC is to break the complaints down by uh districts, and the sheriff's office has a map.

8:03

They sent they're redoing the map, but they sent me what they had currently as far as the three districts, so we can kind of go backtrack and look and see what district we're getting a lot of complaints in, and we'll it that'll be total complaints that have come in, not total complaints that are valid, just complaints that are coming in.

8:26

Um what I'd like to do is ask all the members what other types of trending do you think we should be looking at?

8:34

Is there something in specific that you can think of?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████59%
Public Engagement████████████████21%
Personnel Matters█████7%
Youth Programs███4%
Procedural██3%
Transportation Safety██3%
Training And Development██2%
LGBTQ Community Support█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Calvert County Police Accountability Board Meeting - May 29, 2025

The Calvert County Police Accountability Board (PAB) held its quarterly meeting on May 29, 2025, at 6:30 PM. The meeting included approval of the agenda, updates on community outreach, complaint statistics, training, board vacancies, trending analysis, a recommendation on supervisor presence, a detailed quarterly report from the Sheriff's Office, and training updates. The next meetings are scheduled for August 27, 2025, and December 3, 2025.

Consent Calendar

  • Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved as written by a motion, seconded, and passed unanimously.
  • Chair Updates: The PAB and the Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) have scheduled three community outreach programs: Wednesday, July 16 at Calvert Library; Wednesday, July 23 at Southern Branch Library; and Wednesday, August 6 at Twins Beach Branch Library. PAB members and a Sheriff's Department representative will attend.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • There were no public comments during the meeting. One caller was prompted but did not press star nine to speak.

Discussion Items

  • Complaint Statistics (Jan 1 – May 13, 2025): The ACC reported that eight complaints were received, seven were reviewed, and one was not eligible for review (e.g., involving Maryland State Police or non-citizen). Four cases are pending ACC review, one resulted in administrative charges, and one resulted in a charge agreement with the Sheriff's Office findings. A visual chart was provided.
  • PAB Vacancies and Renewals: Two PAB positions are currently vacant. Two ACC positions and one trial board position are up for renewal by July 2025 and August 2025, respectively. These have been advertised. Members were directed to the county website for applications.
  • PAB Trending Analysis: The PAB is developing a trending analysis to be presented in August. Current data includes complaints by Sheriff’s policies, discipline types, and calls for service (over 100,000 calls in the prior year, with 171 officers). Since July 2022, approximately 15-16 officers have had issues addressed. The ACC suggested breaking complaints down by district. A four-member committee is working on the analysis, and members were asked for additional trending suggestions. The board plans to solicit community feedback at the upcoming outreach events.
  • ACC Recommendation on Supervisor Presence: The ACC recommended reinforced training for deputies on complying with policy 1-906F (police-citizen encounters), specifically requesting supervisory deputies when citizens voice field contact concerns. After discussion with Sheriff Collins and Major Kenning, it was noted that the policy already requires deputies to request a supervisor when asked, and that an agency-wide email reminder had already been sent. The PAB concluded that no further recommendation was needed because the issue is already resolved.
  • Old Business – Complaints by Officer About Another Officer’s Misconduct: The matter of complaints issued by an officer regarding another officer's misconduct is already addressed in policy through internal investigations. Such matters only come to the PAB if not resolved within the Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Office Quarterly Report

  • Report by Sheriff Collins: The Sheriff presented the first quarter 2025 report, including annual statistics. Key points:
    • Calls for service: 26,185 in the quarter.
    • Traffic citations: over 1,500; accidents: 431 (most in Prince Frederick); DUI arrests: 78; traffic warnings: 8,500.
    • Recruitment: No current vacancies; a waiting list exists. The Sheriff’s Office participates in job fairs, has an Explorer Program for high school students, and hires at age 18 for the detention center with time carrying over to deputy positions.
    • Training: Hosted CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) multiple times; 38 GEDs earned by inmates in the last 5 years; IOP (Intensive Outreach Program) graduations.
    • Facilities: A new med box installed in Dunkirk; working on one for District 3.
    • Schools: Panic button technology recommended for every staff member to directly alert 911 dispatch; implementation depends on school board.
    • Legislation: A bill to address parties at rental homes did not pass; will be revisited next session.
    • Mental Health: Of 105 inmates, over 60 are battling mental illness; more funding is needed.
    • CALEA Accreditation: On pace for end of year; jail certification also planned.
    • Citizen Police Academy: 10 participants; likely doubled next year.
    • Drug trends: Fentanyl is a major concern; DARE program being reintroduced in schools.
  • Training Presentation: The Sheriff’s Office provided a detailed overview of training completed in the first quarter, including:
    • Mandatory 18 hours of in-service (including CPR, use of force, criminal law updates, ethics, implicit bias, human trafficking).
    • Annual driver in-service at a driving course.
    • Standard field sobriety test refreshers.
    • Roll call trainings: LGBTQ awareness (by Coward Health), advanced tactics course for patrol (by SWAT members), and crisis intervention training.
    • New deputies: Two-week in-house training followed by a two-month field training program.
    • Supervisors: Attending transformational coaching-style leadership sessions.
    • Annual firearms and taser certification with situational scenarios.
    • Virtual training platform (Police One Academy) used for tracked training.
    • The PAB was informed that recommendations for training are taken seriously and incorporated into roll calls or the online platform.

Key Outcomes

  • Next Meeting Dates: August 27, 2025, and December 3, 2025 (moved from the last Wednesday of November due to Thanksgiving).
  • Vacancies: Applications for PAB, ACC, and Trial Board positions remain open; members encouraged to apply via county website.
  • Recommendation on Supervisor Presence: No further action needed; the Sheriff’s Office already issued a policy reminder.
  • Outreach Events: Three community outreach programs in July and August will include a presentation on PAB/ACC roles and an opportunity for community suggestions on trending analysis.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening and welcome to the police accountability board meeting. It is now 6 30, Wednesday 28th, 2025. First thing on the agenda is take a minute to look at the actual agenda and approval of the agenda. Recording in progress. Are there any changes to the agenda? Do I hear an approval as written? I move to approve the agenda. Yes. Second. All in favor? Aye. Agenda is approved as written. Chair updates, the PAB ACC community outreach. We have set up between the police accountability board and the ACC. We're going to do three outreach programs later this year. The dates are all confirmed. Wednesday, July 16th at the Calvert Library, Wednesday, July 23rd, Southern Branch Library, and Wednesday, August 6th at the Twins Beach Branch Library. Ed and I will be there, and there will be a representative from the Sheriff's Department at each one. Any questions or comments on that? You want PAB members to show up too? Everybody is welcome to come. If you're able to come to any of them, you're welcome to come. As you can see from January 1 to May 13th, there were eight that were received. Seven were reviewed by the ACC. One complaint not eligible for review, meaning that it could have been for Maryland State Police, it could have been not involving a citizen, could have been detention center. Cases pending ACC review is four. Cases resulting in administrative charges is one. ACC charge and agreement with the Sheriff's Office findings is one as well. Any questions? And Michael worked this up as a little more of a visual for the PAB complaint cases. You can see it's follows what we just talked about, but it's just presented in more of a visual aspect. Is that beneficial? For me. Due to budgetary restraints, this training will only be conducted at Sykesville at the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission. So the training is not required. It's highly recommended. It's a time to refresh on the information that you previously received. It's also a very good time to present questions or concerns that you might have as far as specific things that you want answered. So it would definitely be something you do have to go online though, and you have to sign up and register for the class. If anybody wants the link, you can copy the link and you just click on that then and it'll take you right to the form, fill out the form, and then they'll send you. So there's a meeting videos, and here you can see maybe the meeting agendas as to going into the county website and where you can find these to review. So if you had any questions or concerns, you could go back and check out a meeting. Also didn't work. There are positions that are up for renewal this year or replacement. Currently on the PAB, we have two vacant positions. So these will all need to be filled. And this is where you would go to apply to become send your application in for them to consider. Any questions? I don't think it really concerns anybody here particularly. The PAB trending analysis.

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