Calvert County PAB appoints designee to charging committee, reviews complaint totals and seeks clarity on public role

The Calvert County Police Accountability Board met Aug. 28 and reviewed this year’s complaint totals, announced a designee to the Administrative Charging Committee (ACC) and sought legal and procedural clarity about how much information it should receive to develop recommendations.

The board chair told members that, as of Aug. 23, they had received 24 complaints this year. Twelve cases have been reviewed by the ACC, six complaints were not eligible for ACC review, one review resulted in an administrative charge and six cases remain pending ACC review. The chair said some complaints are ineligible when incidents predate the board’s jurisdiction (before July 1, 2022) or are not police cases.

The chair announced she had appointed Susan Justice, the PAB vice president, to serve as the PAB’s designee on the ACC. "That position cannot be filled until the five days of required training are completed," the chair said; the training is scheduled for late October and Justice’s first ACC meeting is expected in November.

Members raised concerns about the level of detail provided to the PAB when the ACC brings recommendations. Several PAB members said the redacted summaries they receive are too brief to allow the larger board to formulate independent recommendations; they asked for more contextual information and for training about how to analyze trends.

County Attorney John Norris told the board that under the statute (cited in the meeting) the PAB may review outcomes of disciplinary matters on a quarterly basis without necessarily reviewing personnel-identifying records. "Reviewing the outcomes does not necessarily mean reviewing the names," Norris said, adding that protected personnel information is still subject to Public Information Act provisions and other privacy laws but that trend data can and should be shared with the PAB.

The chair said she will seek clarification from the trainer, Wayne Silver, about how much detail the PAB should expect and whether the trainer intends the PAB to take a more involved role in developing recommendations. The chair also suggested the board compare practices with neighboring counties, where information-sharing approaches vary.

The board asked for volunteers to work with staff on the PAB’s required annual report to the Board of County Commissioners, due Dec. 31. Three members volunteered to assist.

The meeting closed after public comment and a motion to adjourn was approved.

Next steps: the chair will seek clarification from the trainer and bring any procedural or training items back to a future meeting for discussion.