While Chief Webster and the Salisbury Police Department's #1 suspect of Audrey Jurewicz, murdered and found dead in the City several months ago has been set free.
Mind you, I personally never believed this man was the true murderer but what do I know, right? I mean, I only have documents that describe a completely different suspect that has never been found. Nevertheless, I find it VERY interesting now that Capt. Mark Tyler is saying he is no longer a suspect in the murder of Audrey Jurewicz! I also became vocal several months ago as I felt the description of the actual #1 suspect, the vehicle he drove and specific details should have been immediately exposed as time was of the essence and the SPD refused to get that information out. Mind you, it is their business and they are the professionals. However, what truly ticks me off is how bad it looks on the States Attorneys Office every time cases like this fall through. The Citizens are regularly misinformed and the Mayor loves to toss blame on Davis Ruark and his Staff, yet the Police Chief has publicly stated just how young his Officers are.
Nevertheless, Ron Smith was arrested on multiple assault charges on local prostitutes, gun possession, reckless endangerment and held at the Detention Center on a $50,000.00 Bond. Their key witness failed to appear in Court so the charges were dropped and he was set free.
It's time to bring in a new Police Chief. Clearly Chief Webster cannot provide the proper safety for the Citizens of Salisbury and it should be known that many of the Veteran Officers are leaving the Department because they've simply had enough.
Mind you Folks, this is just my personal opinion but the difference between Sheriff Mike Lewis and Chief Webster is truly night and day. Webster refuses to cooperate with the Sheriff's Department, making the business of taking criminals off the streets more life threatening on ALL Officers within the City and Wicomico County.
I personally think CRIME should be the BIGGEST issue in this election and ONE of the biggest questions each Mayoral Candidate should be asked is,. will you replace the Chief of the Salisbury Police Department. Too many home invasions! Too many car jackings! Too many robberies! Too many ATM issues! The big question "I" feel everyone should ask themselves is, do YOU believe this would still be the case if Sheriff Mike Lewis was running the Salisbury Police Department??????
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
23 comments:
So, anyone seen the missing key witness. Did he have a scheduling conflict, like a permanent one?
Joe, the candidates for the mayor and city council positions need to let the voters know how they stand on chiefy. If elected, would they want to replace him or not.
The problem can not be fixed with a new Chief but it would be a GREAT start. You have to get rid of the administration that he promoted. The truth is the major, 2 captains, and most of the lieutenants have firmly entrenched themselves in the chiefs backside and will likely do the same to the new Chief. Most of the problems in the SPD, like most bureaucracies, are at the middle management level. I encourage everyone to speak to the officers as I have. If they speak candidly they will tell you this is where the problems lay such as broken down police cars, poor leadership, bad morale, and so on. These issues must be brought up at the upcoming mayoral debate and the candidate I vote for must acknowledge the problem and promise sweeping changes to this organization.
How can the Chief and Mayor control a witness who does'nt show up? Get real people. Ask Mike Lewis what would happen if he had a case where the witness did'nt show.
Once you find out where the candidates stand, maybe Joe you should take a day and post all of the police reports and other Salisbury crime stories on the blog all together so people can really see how much crime is in Salisbury (that gets put out on releases anyway).
What gets put out there is only a small percentage of what really is taking place. Just think of the cases which are active/ongoing which they cannot do press releases on for whatever reason.
People in Salisbury I think would be sickened to see that list.
I'm not trying to tell you how to run your blog, by any means, but I do feel it would be a good wakeup call for those who live in the city.
Nobody is going to comment about replacing anyone, that's political suicide. People should not fear for their jobs. All the people want is accountabilty an honest assessments. All department heads will know what their expectations are, or should know by now.
Is the witness still alive would be my question?
Can he be arrested again with the witness or more evidence? Dismissed does not = not guilty, correct?
10:28 You are correct. When charges are dismissed, or nol prossed, by the state, the defendant can be recharged again for the same offense in the future. Double jeopardy is present only when the case goes to court before a judge or jury and a verdict of guilty or not guilty is rendered. In the case of a jury trial, if the jury is a hung jury, meaning they can find the defendant neither guilty or not guilty, the defendant can be recharged and retried on those charges the jury was hung on.
A unified police force is greatly needed... Its just hillarious how one block city runs, then another its county/state. One more thing, I heard through the grape vine that the Sheriffs office is being forced to take the tint off the chargers because they were too intimidating to criminals.... is this true?
anon 11:24 you are wrong...
when charges are on the stet docket the defendant can be re-charged...Nol processed or dismissed they cannot...
Anon 11:38, if this is true, it is really stupid considering back in the 60's it seemed like all the police cars were black and white (like they are now). But partly due to racial tensions of the black vs. white, police departments began moving away from the color scheme.
And what have we gone back to?
Black and White!
Well there's another blown case gone to H e double el
Now? whom to blame? SPD,SA or Judge? We need to know these things.
Crime will be a big issue in general but I'd bet the house nobody's going to comment of firing anyone. It's just not a positive outlook.
As mentioned above, like corporations department heads know what their expectations are and should be graded accordingly.
As someone that spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement, I say based on experience having small municipal police departments is counterproductive to the mission of supressing criminal activity and arresting those persons responsible for committing it. Police departments by and large do a pretty poor job disseminating pertinent criminal information and intelligence within their own agency. Patrol officers are often left in the dark about vital information that those in their own criminal investigation section possess. On a much grander scale, the same dearth of informational exchange occurs between agencies coexisting within the same county bounderies. Most times getting credit for improving stats and egos are at play.
Money is a big factor in the effectiveness of a police department in being a serious crime fighting entity. These small five man departments barely have enough money to put a marked police car on the street, or provide the citizens round-the-clock protection. Salisbury Police Department, one of the largest agencies in Wicomico County, doesn't even have its own crime lab. Instead, they must rely on the availability of the Maryland State Crime lab. The Maryland State Police maintains a minimum presence in the county, usually with no more than three troopers on the road to cover the entire county at any one time. And their forte, and what the troopers get evaluated on, is their traffic stats. There's talk about creating one county police agency here in Wicomico. Carroll County has been having this discussion for years. Things are in place to make the Carroll County Sheriff's Department the county's police force.
Concerning middle-management in police departments, law enforcement agencies in most instances are no different than private companies. Folks that have time on the job; showed they can perform their current job; have demonstrated they're a team player; and demonstrate they're familiar with the agency's/company's administrative and operating procedures rise to mid-level and upper management. Only one problem with this: they have absolutely no management skills. Management skills, like learning to hit a baseball or golf ball, must be taught, understood, practiced and assimulated to do it correctly and effectively. Most managers, especially police management, are never taught the essential management skills of strategic planning, how to build a winning team, how to educate not just train employees, how to build winning relationships, how to deal with conflict, how to develop managerial leadership, the art of problem solving, how to motivate, how to negotiate, and, yes, even in police departments, how to create a customer service environment. Morale is often bad in police departments because the managers simply have no clue how to be effective, productive managers. Talk to any disgruntled employee and they'll tell you they don't dislike where they work because of pay or benefits, the do so because they feel their efforts aren't valued. Motivation by intimidation doesn't work.
As a citizen of Wicomico County, I hope the county moves forward and creates a single law enforcement agency to oversee law enforcement in the county. Once that's done, I hope the county executive appoints a chief of police that is both educated and progressive. And that the county commits enough resources to that agency so that they can attract and retain the best and brightest, as well as outfit the agency with crime-fighting technology that has been around for decades. The citizens deserve it, as do the criminals.
No candidate can promise to get rid of Webster without knowing what kind of contract was signed!
Getting rid of Webster could take some time, and then they have to get rid of the brass who refuses to reform, and then they have to get rid of the officers who don't work and the officers who abuse their power!
So basically when its all said and done there will be a handful of city police left!!
11:24 You are wrong. When charges are place on the stet docket by the state's attorney's office, those charges are still there, just inactive. It's like they're sitting on a shelf. The period of inactivity before the charges are dismissed is one year. Nol prossed means the charges have been completely dismissed. Unlike the stet, the charges no longer exist.
And to add to my last comment, after having only a handful left, you have to hire and train more officers, but in order to attract quality people you have to pay more....with a 45 million dollar law suit, I don't foresee any pay increases in the near future!!
12:34: It's my experience that chiefs of police do not have contracts. Their position is appointed and they serve at the will of the county executive/mayor that appointed them. The only time I've ever seen any type of agreement is when a captain or major short on years of service needed to qualify for pension benefits is tapped to become the new police chief. There's usually some agreement that the chief can fall back into their former rank so they can qualify for their pension in the event their services as chief are no longer wanted.
When there's an election at most any level in government, you'll hear of department heads automatically submitting their letters of resignation in anticipation the new leader will want to bring their own team on board.
1:21 thanks for the info! It makes sense. I just think its fishy that Tilghman has decided not to run again and Webster has made no effort to change anything... I guess I always gave him the benefit of the doubt thinking he just wanted to keep his job so he did what Tilghman wanted! Oh well, his loss not Salisburys
I HAVE BEEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR ALL OF MY ADULT LIFE,OVER 25 YEARS, AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A DEPARTMENT IN NEED OF REAL LEADERSHIP LIKE THE CITY OF SALISBURY'S. THEY NEED A NEW CHIEF TODAY, NOT TOMORROW, NOT AFTER ELECTIONS, TODAY. WEBSTER AND ALL THE OTHERS THAT ARE AFRAID TO LEAVE THE STATION NEED TO BE REPLACED. HELLO, THERE IS NO CRIME IN THE STATION SO GET OUT ON THE ROAD AND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THE CITY A SAFER PLACE. OFFICERS FROM AROUND THE STATE ARE TALKING ABOUT WHATS GOING ON IN SALISBURY IN A NEGITIVE WAY. REPLACE WEBSTER NOW, ITS NOT TOO LATE. ALL SUPERVISORS AND COMMAND STAFF NEED TO GET THEIR FEET ON THE STREET..... TALK TO ANYONE ABOUT WEBSTERS COMMITMENT TO THE CITY, EVER HEARD ANYTHING POSITIVE??? GET RID OF HIM.....
Politics, politics, politics, all in the name of pretending like everything's under control. They lie about murders, suicides, etc., This type of activity has been happening for centuries hasn't it? To think the community has no better since. Some autopsys' come out w/in two to three days now.
Please don't post caps lock people. Please.
Right now the comments on chief are moot, this current council and administration will never seek to replace him. Make sure you vote for change except district two.
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