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Kent County ACC reviews PAB coordination, legal review timeline and a subpoena question; approves minutes and adjourns
Summary
At its Dec. 4 meeting, the Kent County Administrative Charging Committee discussed Police Accountability Board staffing and legal support, noted a transfer of PAB minutes to the county attorney for a legal-sufficiency review (estimated about three weeks), debated a Western Shore case involving a subpoena for an officer's phone records, approved last month's minutes and adjourned.
Unidentified Speaker 1 called the Kent County Administrative Charging Committee to order at 3:48 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2024, reminding members that the meeting would include personnel or confidential matters and that the group follows Robert's Rules of Order and the Maryland meetings act.
The committee unanimously moved to approve last month's minutes after Unidentified Speaker 1 asked whether members had received them. Unidentified Speaker 1 later reported that minutes from the Police Accountability Board (PAB) were pasted as written and forwarded to the county attorney for a legal-sufficiency review; the chair suggested allowing about three weeks for that review.
Unidentified Speaker 1 said 'Pete' is working on securing a lawyer to advise either the ACC or PAB on legal questions, and asked members to recruit trial board candidates and inform 'Frank' of prospective recruits who live in Kent County. The committee briefly mentioned an unrelated community dodgeball event and encouraged support for participants.
Committee members praised the chiefs' written reports as thorough and useful. Unidentified Speaker 2 said the reports were 'very thorough, detailed, as all the information that we required and well written,' adding that the reports make the committee's work easier. Members also noted one recent submission lacked body-worn camera footage but said the omission appeared to be an upload error that was resolved.
The meeting included a discussion of a Western Shore case that Unidentified Speaker 1 said involved an officer driving while using a cell phone. According to the committee exchange, that county's ACC has subpoenaed the officer's personal phone records to determine whether the call was work-related. Unidentified Speaker 4 raised a legal threshold question: whether the matter involved a 'member of the public' as required by law. Unidentified Speaker 3 said the discussion 'reinforces the fact that that's not what this group ... the PAB is recognizing the law for what it is,' and characterized the matter as not a public complaint that 'doesn't need to go anywhere.'
Unidentified Speaker 1 moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded and members voted in favor. The meeting ended with the committee adjourned.
Votes at a glance: - Motion to accept last month's minutes: approved (vote details not specified in the transcript). - Motion to adjourn: approved (vote details not specified in the transcript).
