Anne Arundel Task Force Announces Findings About Alleged Police Wrongdoing
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- An independent task force concludes a three-month investigation into wrongdoing within the Anne Arundel County police department.
Monique Griego has the task force's recommendations.
Monday, the task force gave police a list of recommendations. The task force said it did not find any deep-rooted corruption, just a few bad people causing problems. A scandal involving a councilmember left the police department in turmoil.
"It became apparent that the problems within our department required swift actions," said County Executive Laura Neuman.
Neuman formed a task force to look into the problem. Members included former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.
"We did not see systemic problems. We saw a distraction," he said.
Instead, Bealefeld said it was a few bad apples.
Former County Executive John Leopold was convicted of misconduct. Officers in his protection detail had helped him carry out his criminal activity. Amidst the allegations, former Police Chief James Teare resigned. His replacement, Larry Tolliver, only lasted 10 days before stepping down. Number one on his list was finding a new leader
Kevin Davis was appointed chief last month.
"All of the agencies suffer. This time around, the police department suffered," said Chief Kevin Davis.
Other recommendations were to hire a private executive protection staff, increase ethic oversight, review the structure of the department and improve internal investigations.
"People need to know that there are recourses, that the internal investigations unit is effective," Bealefeld said.
The report also found the department never completed its internal investigation into the officers that were involved with Leopold; the task force recommended they do so.
Click here to see the result of the police task force report.