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Police Accountability Board reports low complaint numbers but seeks council guidance on outreach and scope
Summary
The county Police Accountability Board reported its second full year of operation, summarized complaint and discipline statistics, and asked the county council whether it should expand outreach and public awareness of the complaint process.
Mitch Edinger, chair of the Talbot County Police Accountability Board (PAB), told the council on April 8 the board completed its second full year and is beginning its third. The PAB’s work centers on quarterly reviews of disciplinary outcomes considered by the Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) and an annual report to the council, Edinger said.
Edinger said the ACC reviewed every citizen complaint and that the board also reviews use-of-force reports, arrest data, training opportunities and community-relations activities. He gave statistical summaries: in 2023 the ACC reviewed 15 complaints (12 unfounded, three administrative charges with discipline from reprimand to two days’ loss of pay, no trial board requests); in 2024 there were six complaints (four unfounded, two administrative charges with dispositions including one termination and a five-day loss of pay; one terminated officer requested a trial board). Through early 2025 the ACC had received seven complaints.
Edinger noted that in both 2023 and 2024 the complaints came to the ACC via law enforcement agencies rather than directly to the PAB or ACC as the legislature had anticipated. He said the PAB is concerned county residents may not understand how to file complaints or how the process works. The board asked the council whether it wanted the PAB to remain strictly within the legislative mandate or to expand its work — for example to review law enforcement policies — as some other jurisdictions have done.
Council members thanked the board for the report and its thoroughness. Several asked staff to research how other counties structure PAB scope and outreach. Council member Peter Lesher and others encouraged training for PAB members and continued quarterly engagement with law enforcement agencies. No change to the board’s statutory scope was approved at the meeting; council members asked for follow-up information and possible models used elsewhere.
Ending: The PAB will continue quarterly reviews and provide the council with materials on outreach and potential scope changes for future consideration.
