Police Union Calls for Annapolis Police Chief Removal Amid Dispute Over Suspension of Officers

Today, United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union, which represents the men and women of the Annapolis Police Department, issued the following statement following the suspension of two Annapolis Police officers:

“The officers who met with the mayor did so as whistleblowers and union shop stewards on behalf of their fellow officers and union members. Not reporting waste and mismanagement was not an option. They did the right thing and retaliating against union members for speaking out about their working conditions is brazenly unlawful.

“As a result, two officers are off the street indefinitely and are unable to work while an outside agency investigates the allegations. But in a clear conflict of interest, the investigation is to be conducted by the Baltimore Police Department, the same department that virtually the entire command staff is from. We call for another agency without a clear conflict of interest to complete this investigation.

“The suspensions of these lawful whistleblowers are punitive and retaliatory in nature and blatantly illegal. We demand that these officers be immediately returned to service. We call for the immediate removal of Chief Jackson and his Baltimore-based command staff. There are ample homegrown, highly-capable officers that could run the Annapolis Police Department with professionalism and integrity. The Jackson team has proven unfit to lead the fine men and women of the Annapolis police department.”

Background:

On March 13, 2024, a group of APD officers and UFCW Local 400 members met with Tricia Hopkins, Annapolis Human Resource Manager, and Mike Malinoff, Annapolis City Manager, regarding waste and mismanagement at the Annapolis Police Department. As a result of that meeting and the serious nature of the information shared, Mr. Malinoff arranged a follow up meeting for the group with Mayor Gavin Buckley on May 3, 2024. The UFCW Local 400 group then shared their concerns with the mayor.

Annapolis Police officers have a right to disclose information that evidences mismanagement and waste of government resources. Under Maryland law, “a police officer may not be discharged, disciplined, demoted, or denied promotion, transfer, or reassignment, or otherwise discriminated against or threatened in regard to the police officer’s employment because the police officer: disclosed information that evidences: (i) mismanagement; (ii) a waste of government resources;” among other disclosures (Maryland Code, Public Safety section 3-110).

On Thursday, July 18, Chief Edward Jackson suspended two of the officers who met with the mayor. The reason given was “it is alleged that during a meeting on May 3, 2024 with Mayor Gavin Buckley, you brought discredit upon the Annapolis Police Department, Chief Jackson, Major Branford and other members of the agency with your comments for specific complaints.”