Tuesday, July 17, 2012
More than $1 million in allowances for officers were reinstated this week by the County Council.
Anne Arundel County police officers will once again receive allowances for uniforms, service weapons and physical fitness activities after a County Council vote on Monday. The allowances will be distributed to the 540 members of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 70. Each member will receive: The allowances amount to $1,042,200 and were removed from last year’s budget, but were included in the 2013 fiscal year budget. They were officially reinstated on Monday by the County Council in a unanimous vote. Police officers who testified before the vote on Monday said they were grateful the allowances were being reinstated, but said it was an amount far short of what was needed. “This does little to address the depleted morale and …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A criminal investigation into Teare is being dropped by the state as a result of his retirement.
UPDATE (3:05 p.m.)—Maj. Pamela R. Davis is the new acting police chief for the Anne Arundel County Police Department (AACPD), effective immediately after Police Chief James Teare Sr.'s retirement is set to begin in Aug. 1. Davis will be the first female police chief in Anne Arundel County history. She is currently the commander of the Administrative Services Bureau of the police department. The other heads of the department are retiring later this year—including Deputy Chief Emerson Davis, who is set to retire in August, and Deputy Chief David E. Pressley, who will retire in September. County Executive John R. Leopold made the announcement of Davis' appointment on Wednesday afternoon, hours after Teare's retirement was made public. “Pam …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
ACLU representative says actions taken are "beyond the pale."
The ACLU says it has confirmed that federal and state databases were illegally accessed to compile data on three of County Executive John R. Leopold's so-called political enemies. The ACLU announced Tuesday that it has obtained documentation that the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and state Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) databases were used to dig up information on three Anne Arundel County citizens. Those individuals are: "The facts are clear that employees of County Executive Leopold improperly accessed government criminal history databases for purposes unrelated to law enforcement," said Deborah Jeon, legal director for the Maryland ACLU. "This is just beyond the pale." Jeon implored Maryland citizens to demand …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The vote passed by a 4-3 vote with newcomer Councilman Peter Smith casting the deciding vote.
The Anne Arundel County Council passed a vote of no confidence in Police Chief James Teare Sr. on Monday by a narrow margin. The legislation, sponsored by Jerry Walker (R-7th District), originally called for Teare to be suspended by the county executive. But after talking with county attorneys, Walker said he decided to change the wording to "a vote of no confidence in Chief Teare's ability to lead the police department." Council Chairman Derek Fink (R-3rd District) called the motion “political grandstanding,” by Walker. Fink joked with Councilman John Grasso (R-2nd District) during the meeting that it was merely a tactic of Walker’s to get their names in newspaper headlines. Walker said he drafted the legislation in response to Deputy …
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Chief said he doesn't want to impede grand jury investigation.
After being subpoenaed by the County Council, the county's police chief said he would not answer any questions that were subject to the grand jury investigation into County Executive John R. Leopold. Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare Sr. was sworn under oath on Monday, but said he couldn't answer questions that would put him in violation of secrecy laws protecting grand jury investigations. "I do not want to break the law, so I respectfully decline to answer questions which require me to do that," Teare said. Teare's attorney Gerald P. Martin said his client appeared on Monday night "to demonstrate respect for the council," but Martin called the subpoena "erroneous." Martin said the council would need to get a judge to issue the…
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A special meeting is set for Monday, where the council has ordered county Police Chief James Teare to answer questions.
Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare has been subpoenaed by the County Council, and he is scheduled to face them Monday at a special meeting. Teare was issued the summons Tuesday morning, hours after the council voted unanimously to order the subpoena, according to County Councilman Chris Trumbauer (D-6th District). "I intend to ask him some questions—nothing antagonistic, just trying to get some answers," Trumbauer said. "This was unanimous. The council was unwilling to wait any longer. We were starting to hear things that were very troubling." Trumbauer also said people were losing confidence in county government, and actions like these are needed to restore it. The National Police Union has called for Teare's resignation after …
Ronald
8:12 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Certain careers are forbidden from taking 2nd jobs because of the appearance of conflict or because it casts that profession in a bad light. Should police officers be allowed to wear their uniforms if they take a job at 7/11? or on a trash removal truck? Where do you draw the line? more ›