Salisbury Police Department (Maryland)
City of Salisbury Police Department Salisbury Police Department | |
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Abbreviation | SPD |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Salisbury, Maryland, United States |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Salisbury, Maryland 38°22′5″N 75°36′34″W / 38.36806°N 75.60944°W |
Agency executive |
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Units | Administration Criminal Investigations Operations |
Website | |
salisbury |
The Salisbury Police Department (SPD) is a nationally accredited full-service agency servicing a population of 33,050 persons within 14.28 square miles (37.0 km2) of the municipality of Salisbury, in the U.S. state of Maryland.[1]
The Chief of Police, since September 25, 2023, is David Meienschein.[2] Chief Meienschein is eleventh chief of police for the Salisbury Police Department.
History
[edit]SPD became accredited on April 26, 1987, becoming the 45th agency accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.[3]
In 2011, the Salisbury Police Department partnered with the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore to create two funds. The first is a College Scholarship program to send a future Salisbury Police Officer to Wor-Wic Community College. The second is a fund to re-establish the Mounted Unit and to assist in the establishment of a K-9 Unit.[4]
In October 2014, three separate lawsuits were filed against the Salisbury Police Department, all accusing the same officer of using excessive force.[5] In 2017, the ACLU sued the Salisbury Police Department to gain access to the settlement agreement for one of those suits.[6]
On May 26, 2020, one day after the murder of George Floyd, an incident occurred in which an officer from the Department put his hand on the neck of 18-year-old Camren Colon, who was being detained for disorderly conduct.[7] In response to bodycam video of the incident, Police Chief Barbara Duncan said "At no time... was my officer attempting to execute a neck restraint, a chokehold, or restrict the airflow of Mr. Colon."[8] Lawyers representing the Colon family later disagreed, with one stating that the maneuver shown in bodycam video was "absolutely" a neck restraint.[9] The use of neck restraints is prohibited by the Department's use of force policy.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Salisbury city, Maryland - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder". Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ^ "New Salisbury Police Chief named". 47abc. 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ "CALEA Client Database". Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
- ^ "Salisbury Police Department K9/Mounted Patrol and College Tuition Fundraiser". City of Salisbury. Archived from the original on 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
- ^ Junkin, Vanessa. "Third lawsuit filed against Salisbury police". The News Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ Velazquez, Rose (2017-07-12). "ACLU suit seeks transparency in Salisbury police excessive force settlement". The Daily Times. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ a b Velazquez, Rose. "Body cam video released in controversial Salisbury arrest; police chief backs officer". The Daily Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Sadur, Julian (2 June 2020). "Colon Family pursuing legal action against SPD". 47abc. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Velazquez, Rose. "Family weighs legal options over Salisbury police officer's use of force". The Daily Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.