Salisbury Police Department (Maryland)

For the dissolved Salisbury City Police force in England, see Salisbury City Police.
City of Salisbury Police Department
Salisbury Police Department
Salisbury Police patch
Salisbury Police patch
AbbreviationSPD
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSalisbury, Maryland, United States
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersSalisbury, Maryland
38°22′5″N 75°36′34″W / 38.36806°N 75.60944°W / 38.36806; -75.60944
Agency executive
  • David Meienschein, Chief of Police
UnitsAdministration
Criminal Investigations
Operations
Website
salisbury.md/departments/police

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

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]

A screenshot of police body camera video that shows the officer's hand on Colon's neck

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

  1. ^ "Salisbury city, Maryland - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder". Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  2. ^ "New Salisbury Police Chief named". 47abc. 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  3. ^ "CALEA Client Database". Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ Junkin, Vanessa. "Third lawsuit filed against Salisbury police". The News Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.