Seriously, I went into tonight with an open mind. After all, my busy schedule disallows me time to blog about many things I wish to talk about. So, I turn into tonight's Council meeting. In the end, I am left convinced that Chief Teare should no longer serve as the head of Anne Arundel County Police.
Teare started his testimony by reading a prepared statement that attempted to confuse the uneducated. While "geek speak" may sway the layman, I would have told Teare to cut through the crap and answer the questions at hand. Thankfully, Ed Middlebrooks got around to questioning.
To be fair, I have never been an Ed Middlebrooks fan. That said, he hit a homerun tonight. He made no secret that, despite false reports to the contrary, he knew another person was in the County Executive's vehicle. In turn, Middlebrooks showed that he wouldn't take the word of the Chief at face value. Also, Councilman Benoit grilled the Chief at length over this incident. In response, Chief Teare stubbornly tried to defend the indefensible.
In the end, I found Chief Teare to be woefully unprepared and easily rattled. As an experienced police professional, I expected him to remain calm. At times, he looked clearly flustered. Likewise, he admitted that he lost his temper with Capital reporters. Anne Arundel County citizens deserve a Chief that will be level headed, candid and calm when discussing police matters. Tonight, Chief Teare expressed his loyalty to one man while leaving the rest of us to float down a river. We desrve better.
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6 comments:
So did they ask him directly if someone else was in the car? What was his response?
He dodged the question by merely saying his officer looked through the front windshield and saw nothing.
Did he say whether he saw the County Exec? My gosh, wouldn't the officer stop to verify that the County Exec is okay?
Benoit asked the gotcha question whether a field contact form was filled out. Teare admitted it was not. The Chief said it wasn't necessary. Let's see, I thought this form was automatically generated so that police can keep track of those they come in contact with. And, from what I understand, it has nothing to do with familiarity.
Thank god for Middlebrooks and Benoit.
I wasn't fans of either of them until last night having concluded that Benoit was a blowhard and Middlebrooks too Glen Burnie. This can't be an easy line for them to walk and I thought they both did great.
I particularly enjoyed hearing Middlebrooks go straight for the jugular referencing that "we all know who she is". I hope they keep pressing Leopold and I hope you, Bud will keep pressing them to press Leopold.
After listening to the Chief's testimony before the County Council last night I came away with the impression that police procedures are nothing more than a set of suggestions for officers to follow rather than mandatory Standard Operating police Procedures. The Chief asserted throughout his testimony that everything was done by the book, but when pressed to explain, he resorted to the position that officers are authorized to use their own discretion.
I also found it curious that when asked if he questioned Mr. Leopold about the presence of another person, he replied that, since he wasn't investigating a crime, he did not. Just in case the Chief is missing something here, sex in an automobile on a mall parking lot, even with one's own spouse, IS a crime, a SEX CRIME! Upon conviction one would be required to register as a sex offender.
It was as if a huge malodorous cloud was permeating the Council chambers last evening and the only one in the room pretending that he couldn't smell it was the Chief of Police.
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