Calvert’s Police Accountability Board Aims To Improve Outreach Programs After A Slow Start

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Calvert County’s Police Accountability Board (PAB) is making it a goal in 2026 to improve community outreach. Now wrapping up its fourth year, the PAB is still looking for its footing in the public eye.

Board members at the Dec. 3 PAB meeting acknowledged that they “did not do well” on outreach, one of the major arms of the PAB’s strategy. They’re looking for ways to make sure the community is aware of the board’s existence and knows what it does in order to utilize it. However, Chair Susan Justice said the group still lacked firm plans on outreach programs. One possibility was having the PAB speak to local groups and businesses.

“We need to find ways to get out to the community what this board is about,” Justice said. “We did find this past year that the majority of people in the community have no idea what the PAB is.”

Justice went on to say that one of the strengths is the PAB’s relationship with the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and that they are working with the department to create better outcomes for both CCSO and the community. She hoped that the citizens can understand that the PAB is “a good thing.”

Calvert County’s PAB was formed in Feb. 2022. Through the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 — Police Discipline and Law Enforcement Programs and Procedures, which was enacted by the Maryland General Assembly on April 10, 2021, the county is required to establish a police accountability board and an Administrative Charging Committee (ACC). The first members were appointed in June 2022.