SALISBURY – Eleven members will take their seats on two new law enforcement review boards following council confirmations this week.
On Tuesday, the Wicomico County Council had before them several nominees to both the police accountability board and the administrative charging committee. Acting County Executive John Psota said his submission of appointments follows requirements set by the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021.
“This law required all counties to create three police oversight boards, each of which serves a different function,” he told the council. “The three police oversight boards consist of a police accountability board, or PAB, an administrative charging committee, or ACC, and a trial board.”
In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Police Accountability Act, which establishes requirements for police accountability and discipline. As part of the bill, counties are responsible for establishing boards and committees that receive and review complaints, offers disciplinary measures and more.
“In April of 2022, the county council created, and the county executive signed into law, the creation of the three police oversight boards,” Psota said. “Collectively, the three boards are referred to as the Law Enforcement Review Board of Wicomico County.”
Since that time, Psota said, the county has sought applicants for the nine-member police accountability board and five-member administrative charging committee. He said staff received 37 applications and that 33 of the applicants were deemed eligible for a board following an initial screening process.
“To ensure each county election district was represented, those applicants, as per their home address, were broken into their respective Wicomico County councilmanic districts,” he explained. “Subsequently, I conducted a review of the applicants and information provided through the screening process.”
To that end, Psota came before the council this week to submit his list of appointments to the two boards. The council voted unanimously to confirm all 11 individuals.
“We thank you very much for volunteering,” Council President John Cannon said. “We look forward very much to working with you over the next few years.”
On the police accountability board, J. Anthony Dickerson, Elizabeth Griffith, Deanna Hall and Sarah McGarity will serve one-year terms, while Gaylon Adkins, Deborah Hammel, David Owens, Habacuc Petion and Ronald Lewis will serve two-year terms. Lewis will serve as chair.
On the administrative charging committee, Lewis, Debra McJilton and Mark David Babe Wilson will fill three of the five seats.
“The chair of the PAB automatically sits on this [ACC] board as well,” Psota explained.
Officials in Wicomico County are still seeking applications from volunteers to serve on the administrative charging committee and trial board.
“Required by the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, the Police Accountability Board will receive citizens’ complaints of alleged police misconduct and forward them to law enforcement for investigation,” a statement from the executive’s office reads. “Once an investigation is complete, the Administrative Charging Committee will decide whether disciplinary action is warranted and offer recommendations for discipline in accordance with a state-mandated matrix. The Trial Board serves law enforcement officers who wish to have a trial on administrative charges brought by the Administrative Charging Committee.”
More information, as well as an application, can be found on the county’s website, wicomicocounty.org.
Applications can be completed electronically or mailed or personally delivered to the executive’s office in the Government Office Building, 125 N. Division Street, Room 303.
