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Residents press PAB on missing annual report, custody deaths and social-media censorship
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged greater transparency: requests included posting meetings widely, publishing an annual report for 2023, providing custody-death statistics, improving complaint forms, and addressing alleged Facebook censorship and threats reported to the sheriff's office.
During public comment residents raised several transparency and accountability concerns. Nikquita Gross asked why the PAB's 2023 annual report is not available on the website and recommended a public-facing complaint form to empower people after encounters with police. "On the site there is 1 for 2022, but not 1 for 2023," Gross said.
Joyce Freeland of the Calvert County NAACP asked when the community is notified about deaths in custody and whether there are protocols for outside medical attention. Leslie Sokolove said she felt censored on the sheriff's Facebook page and that a reported online threat received no follow-up from the sheriff; the chair responded that conduct complaints should be filed through the PAB website and would be tracked. Board staff and legal counsel clarified that detention-center complaints are typically handled by the sheriff and not the PAB.
