Marijuana Policy Project

City departments say Prince George's needs to advise on future warrants

When New Carrollton Police Chief David Rice heard of the recent raid in Berwyn Heights, it wasn't the two dead dogs or media storm that made him nervous.

It was the fact that armed police were in a local town and officers there had no idea.

"Our biggest fear is an encounter of a cop-on-cop shooting, where there's a plainclothes officer," said Rice, who also heads the county association of police chiefs, which has called on the county to revise its notification policies for local law enforcement. "To me, it's a disaster waiting to happen."

Police chiefs met with Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin C. High earlier this month to request a review of the county's policies for informing local police of warrants and other actions. High said Wednesday the review is under way, but would not say when or how county police currently work with local departments.

He tersely defended the sheriff's deputies who, on July 29, burst into the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo. The mayor was handcuffed, and his two Labrador retrievers were shot and killed.

"In this case, [notifying municipal police] would not have been the thing to do," High said, declining to say why he believed keeping the raid secret was justified.

"There are protocols," High said. "We're reviewing that process."

Although police found a package containing 32 pounds of marijuana, they believe the drugs were meant for someone else. They have not apologized for the incident or the lack of notice to local police.

A simple courtesy call could have prevented a national embarrassment in his town, Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy said.

"I certainly would have recognized it was the mayor's address. Hopefully I would have gotten them to let me go and knock on the door," Murphy said. "We could have put the dogs in the bathroom and sat on the couch while they did their thing."

Murphy said he didn't hear about the raid until minutes after it happened, when county police asked his department to send a marked car to keep watch on the mayor's broken front door.

The case has sparked warnings from municipal police chiefs and officials in other parts of Prince George's, who say the obstinate silence by county law enforcement could cause future embarrassments or worse.

"Certainly, if the county was serving a warrant, I would expect a phone call," said Chief Michael Scott of the Mount Rainier Police Department.

Local chiefs say their main concern is over warrants like the one served in Berwyn Heights, where police posed as deliverymen and delivered the package of marijuana addressed to Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic. A squad of deputies conducted the actual raid at the request of county police a short time later, after Calvo brought the package inside.

Neither police investigators nor sheriffs recognized the address as the mayor's home, and had obtained a warrant naming Calvo's wife as the recipient.

County police often handle drug trafficking investigations and other major crime probes, making them responsible for notifying the locals, a sheriff's office spokesman said.

"Our only responsibility was the entry," Sgt. Mario Ellis said. "When you work with another agency, you're counting on them to dot the i's and cross the t's."

Ellis said deputies may not notify local departments in daily business like serving court papers, but they make certain to alert local police when conducting large-scale raids or other situations.

"We do that out of respect for the other agency," Ellis said. "Neighbors could see what's happening and call 911. You don't want a big mess."

Discontent with county police services in the past has led some cities to form their own departments in recent years. There are 19 local departments in the county, most consisting of three to five officers.

New Carrollton founded its police department in 2006, while Bowie police began patrolling the streets last summer after residents complained of long response times and inadequate patrols from county police in years past.

Communication is often lacking within the county department itself. In the Berwyn Heights raid, the local commander of the county police district was also not told that a drug investigation was focusing on a home in their region, Murphy said.

District I Commander Maj. Kevin Davis did not return a call for comment by press time.

High and others said notification can be tricky in law enforcement operations. In pending investigations, the fewer people who know what's going on, the less chance it can filter back to a suspect.

"It all revolves around issues of confidentiality," High said.

It's not mistrust of local police, officers say. It's who might overhear.

"There could be a citizen listening to two officers talking at a 7-Eleven or something," said Lt. Frank Webb of the Forest Heights Police Department, who said his department has an "excellent relationship" with county police.

But secrecy concerns don't keep federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration from contacting local departments when they serve warrants, chiefs said.

"Federal cooperation is off the charts," said Rice, who said DEA agents will often ask for information on the occupants or location, sometimes allowing the department to assist. "Who knows the jurisdiction better than the people who patrol it every day?"

In Prince George's County, the lack of communication can create redundant actions. On Aug. 5, the Prince George's sheriff's office arrested George Victor Green, 50, who was suspected of breaking into 20 homes in Bowie. County and city police, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said they kept looking for Green for a week before learning from reporters that he had been arrested.

Bowie City Police Chief Katherine Perez declined to comment, though Bowie Mayor Frederick Robinson said he was concerned.

"[Sharing information] is always a challenge in law enforcement," said Robinson, a former county police commander who said he hopes the department will work on the issue. "The thing is to keep each other in touch."