There's a lot of talk going on about why the Pocomoke Police Chief is allegedly on "stress leave".
I have heard several things over the past two days, none of which has been confirmed.
However, I do know that there was a point and time when the Chief sent his Officers out of their jurisdiction to patrol Snow Hill. There's been bad blood for years between the Sheriff's Department and the Pocomoke Police Department.
The Sheriff's Office in Worcester County must have a lot of time and officers to go into Pocomoke to enforce the law when they have their own police department.
We've learned that the Chief resigned today under pressure.
Why does the Sheriff's Office keep asking for more Deputies when he has enough Officers to go into Towns that have their own Police Department?
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60 comments:
I hope this isn't true and if it is I hope Sheriff Mason has a good explanation for why Chief Sewell is leaving.
I personally think Chief Sewell is a gem. He is a hands on administrator and a role model. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about him and his wife who is a nurse locally.
Things never seem to get better in Pocomoke. After the City Manager was forced to retire I had high hopes for improvement in Pocomoke.
Duncan is the one who needs to go
I agree that Chief Sewell is a nice fellow but he hasn't told the Mayor and Council the truth on some important matters.
What are those matters ? I m clueless to this being an issue.
The sheriff does not hire and fire the police chief so you need to seek your explanation from someone else.
Shocked
Perhaps he didn't trust THEM with what he knew. Did all corruption simply end with the City Manager leaving?
How is Snow Hill out of the jurisdiction of the Worcester county police department??????
Stay on topic..this has NOTHING to do with tbat.
But cops don't lie, well except maybe babs.
Pocomoke will never change. Theres a bunch a back stabbing, gossiping people who live there - no wonder things never seem to get better.
Sewell protected a police officer who has a lying problem. States attorney told him that the officer lied but Sewell kept him on.
Kelvin Sewell was asked to resign and refused so was fired! The truth will come out. This is some "good old boy" agenda and pocomoke is in trouble without someone like him. He's a good man. Racism at its best
A nice guy doesn't make you a good leader.
Who is Pocomoke hiring for their town manager?
Wow, more like the officers who have to work in the stressful situations and daily corruption need to be on stress leave for all they have had to deal with this past year! You can't have relations with criminals and drug dealers and think you won't get caught! Now maybe that is a reason to be stressed!!
All kidding aside,this looks like a civil rights issue.The big names who show up & typically make things worse could be just what this particular situation needs.Outsiders will be the only ones who can get to the bottom of this.To begin with,the specific reason Sewell sent officers to Snow Hill needs to be determined and made public.It all rests on whether that response was requested or if Sewell arbitrarily sent the officers of his own volition.My guess is that a specific request was made for the assistance.
There is no Worcester county police. Its Pocomoke city police or Worcester county sheriffs dept. Meaning Pocomoke has no arrest power in snow hill.
Amen!
Not true
Yes it was. Come on, you really think they drove down to start patrolling with out being asked? Really?? Your a knew kind of stupid.
Knew? Really, too funny.
Oh..ok..so you're going to make a distinction between police and sheriff's office? Get a life!
People - really - nobody knows the facts yet but everyone is crying Racism. Let's wait for them to release the facts and then make judgement.
No he wasn't asked. He was mad because the Worcester County Sheriff's Office was briefing for a drug sting inside of Pocomoke. The briefing was at the Pocomoke Fire department next to the police department but the Pocomoke Police weren't invited. Since the Sheriff's Office is located in Snow Hill Sewell sent his cars to Snow Hill in an act of defiance. There were no requests by Snow Hill police. That's illegal.
The bad blood comes from jurisdiction problems Sewell had with the Sheriff's department. Sewell is a smart man. A decorated homicide detective from Baltimore City who is also an author of a book on policing. The mayor and council fired him. One of the councilmen is also a deputy at the sheriff's department. Does that open any eyes? Good old boy system at it's best. They don't like black folk who won't obey orders from them.
Maybe it could be a difference in policing styles. I know from reading his book that Chief Sewell wasn't a fan of the "broken window" policing theory. I tend to agree with the Chief on that one. A good stern warning and a lecture then a pat on the back goes a long way with the type of people who commit 'crimes' like drinking in public, etc.
I sincerely hope that the Mayor and the Council will reconsider.
Since we want to speak on council members let's not forget about the female councilwoman whom he was having an "affair" with. The same one that was coached as to what to request for and say during open and closed council meetings. This stuff runs deep. If only people could wait for the facts before running to racism. Its not a race issue its a integrity issue at the least. Its about LIES and deceit, and it took the knowledge of very smart people to get them to surface I'm sure! Its funny to see PEOPLE on TV giving false information. Ex. We haven't had a murder in Pocomoke since Sewell took office, well I guess you all forgot about the inicent 3 year old killed in town of Pocomoke or about the report of chief praising the dept for the most arrest last year in 5 years. We'll let's see how can the crime be at a all time low in 20 years but just Jan 15 a report put out that the PD had the most arrest in 5 years for 2014. You all do the math!
2015 is the year of racism apparently. We don't have any idea what happened at all and people are already crying racism. Do you want to know why no one wants to hear your problems about racism???? It is because you blame everything on racism instead of taking some responsibility for your own actions. This is a perfect example. Obviously there is still racism in this world, without a doubt. It comes from everywhere, not just white people. So for you to jump on here and immediately cry racism only furthers the point that most people will not take you seriously.
@ 8:05 get a life. I am sure you have real in depth knowledge of the situation. Google is a great thing.
They do have power to arrest in another town. They have power to arrest in all of Maryland. Maybe even the country now that homeland security crap is around.
9:15-I for one am not crying racism.I only feel that for once an outside perspective would be more objective than an internal investigation.If Chief Sewell refuses to cooperate & answer the big questions any investigation would be pointless anyway.
I have Racism Fatigue and am sick and tired of hearing the word. It has no place in a conversation 99.9 percent of the time it is brought up including this time-so stop the racism nonsense.
Judging from the comments and what I have heard, which at this point I will assume to be mostly true, this is one of those conflicts in where both sides are right and both sides are wrong.
I think the Chief is much beloved and I think the Mayor and Council are respected by most people. Since this is how it is I think both the city and the Chief should work on working things out.
Absolutely Chief Sewell should have been made aware prior to any other LE agency acting in Pocomoke City proper including the Sheriff's Dept. If this is true then Chief Sewell has every right in the world to have been angry. The residents of Pocomoke do happen to elect officials who then chose who they want in charge of their PD.
the sheriffs department need to be up in north worcester county running radar instead of involving themselves in pocomoke business since they do have their own police department. speeders all over these back roads up here going so damn fast that they are crossing over the center line on the curves. fatality is in the works unless the word gets out that tickets are being written.
@10:50-Investigation for what? Why is there a need for an investigation? Sewell doesn't seem to be pushing for one and he doesn't seem to be fighting the fact he was let go. In fact from what I understand he tried to resign. The point is as soon as an African American is let go, then it has to be some type of collusion and personal agenda going on. Maybe he just ran his course and couldn't do the job anymore. Maybe there are other factors that none of us know....but to rush into saying "He was let go because they don't want a black man who won't listen" is absolutely ridiculous. He had the job for nearly 5 years, you don't think he has had disagreements before? I hate promoting this, but if you read the WBOC article posted, some individuals in there also hint at race playing a factor and one person went on to say they worried about police brutality since there would no longer be an African American in charge....I do not recall many complaints about police brutality before Sewell arrived.......it is just ridiculous to me that race is always the first target as motive with 0 factual evidence to back it up. If race was a factor, why hire him in the first place???
I have heard other stories as well, some that may hint at underhandedness from Sewell. I do not know if these stories are true since this is the Eastern Shore, but the fact remains that we do not know anything at this point. So it angers me when people just immediately jump to the conclusion that "they had to get rid of the black man" when they were plenty pleased with Chief Sewell for his entire stint at the PCPD. There could be plenty of factors, why rush to pull the race card?
SEEMS EVERY ISSUE HAS BEEN CONSIDERED A RACE PROBLEM FIRST SINCE OBAMA WAS ELECTED- -FACTS DON'T MATTER
Ok why in the world would POCOMOKE send police officers to SNOW HILL to patrol??
Anonymous said...
...Your a knew kind of stupid.
July 2, 2015 at 12:36 AM
WTF is a "Knew" kind of stupid?
Anonymous said...
There is no Worcester county police. Its Pocomoke city police or Worcester county sheriffs dept. Meaning Pocomoke has no arrest power in snow hill.
July 1, 2015 at 11:36 PM
I love when idiots get on here thinking they know what they are talking about, especially when they are clueless dumb fks.
Before you spew ignorance you should check your facts. Did you know that Maryland passed a law giving all police offices statewide jurisdiction!!
Anonymous said...
Since we want to speak on council members let's not forget about the female councilwoman whom he was having an "affair" with. The same one that was coached as to what to request for and say during open and closed council meetings. This stuff runs deep. If only people could wait for the facts before running to racism. Its not a race issue its a integrity issue at the least. Its about LIES and deceit, and it took the knowledge of very smart people to get them to surface I'm sure! Its funny to see PEOPLE on TV giving false information. Ex. We haven't had a murder in Pocomoke since Sewell took office, well I guess you all forgot about the inicent 3 year old killed in town of Pocomoke or about the report of chief praising the dept for the most arrest last year in 5 years. We'll let's see how can the crime be at a all time low in 20 years but just Jan 15 a report put out that the PD had the most arrest in 5 years for 2014. You all do the math!
July 2, 2015 at 9:07 AM
Name names! Who was he screwing??
Racism is only against white people these days.
Maybe because he couldn't pass the annual physical!
That is patently false. Dumb fk. List the law. The times when a law enforcement officer may act outside his/her jurisdiction:
Fresh pursuit,
Pursuant to a mutual aid agreement,
To stop an act of violence committed in their presence,
Following up on an investigation which began in their jurisdiction,
Drug and gambling investigations.
No others. Not a new law. This is listed in the annotated code of Maryland
Can. Sounds exactly like Salisbury, MD. How about the entire eastern shore of Maryland.
Anonymous said...
The bad blood comes from jurisdiction problems Sewell had with the Sheriff's department. Sewell is a smart man. A decorated homicide detective from Baltimore City who is also an author of a book on policing. The mayor and council fired him. One of the councilmen is also a deputy at the sheriff's department. Does that open any eyes? Good old boy system at it's best. They don't like black folk who won't obey orders from them.
July 2, 2015 at 8:05 AM
Um... I saw his interviews on TV. He is not a smart man. DUH!!
Pocomoke, Berlin, Snow Hill, Ocean Pines and Ocean City should all become a part of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office. There is no need for 7 or more police agencies in Worcester County.
MSP and Natural Resources Police.
Ocean City Fire Marshal, Worcester County Fire Marshal and the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. Any more?
Anonymous said...
Pocomoke, Berlin, Snow Hill, Ocean Pines and Ocean City should all become a part of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office. There is no need for 7 or more police agencies in Worcester County.
MSP and Natural Resources Police.
Ocean City Fire Marshal, Worcester County Fire Marshal and the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. Any more?
July 5, 2015 at 7:23 PM
Agreed
mayor has lot of b.s. with him .the people know who he is now. good old boys club.
"Um... I saw his interviews on TV. He is not a smart man. DUH!!
July 5, 2015 at 2:46 PM"
Speaking of interview, I saw the brief interview he did for channel 47 outside the church that hosted the meeting and to me he came across as nervous.
I'm disappointed that he had to bring racism into the mix as anymore the word racism has been so diluted and overused that it means nothing at all. It's become a way for someone to deflect from their own failings and nothing more. As soon as I hear racism now I think oh no what are you trying to hide.
I totally supported Sewell when he was appointed and felt he was the perfect choice to bring a whole new style and ideas to the area but now I'm not so sure because it's crazy to think 4 out of 5 council members are racist or would be out to get him and involved in some grand conspiracy.
Plus if you google his name he did have some issues while in Baltimore with withholding the truth about a bad cop until he was basically caught when he failed a lie detector. I would think the black community would not approve of him, afterall their cause du jour is getting rid of bad cops and those who protect and cover for the bad ones. The African American community should realize they can't have it both ways and then expect for them to have any credibility.
Yes, that would be Trotter
No he didn't try to resign. If you haven't talked to him then you can't say.
You don't have to believe it, you will soon find out that it is true.
I know Kelvin Sewell very well you all are morons this guy should not be a police let alone a cheif of police!! Does anyone know this guys background in Pocomoke City??
Friend of the wrong color!
Nobody is perfect, especially having to work in/around the system for the good of people. I think Sewell does a great job and is a very caring officer of the law. He truly is concerned about the welfare of citizens and that goes a long way in my book.
I think people need to grow up and start having a little commom sense. Which In recent years more and more people don't have any. Not everything is racist. There is alot of things that happen to all races and they don't go on ranting and raving about people being racist. Grow up people! Time for everyone to pull together and become a nation of one instead of a divided nation. This Government has divided everyone long enough. Enough is enough. We are becoming less free everyday and we all are letting it happen. Stop all this fighting. Im tired of hearing all this racial bull! If everyone would stop living off the government and get a job there would be less time to fight about this racial bull that isnt there. You would be working teaching your children to work hard for what you want in life and this country would be great again and with fewer money problems.
You're right it might not be a matter of race, but it is yet another instance of politcal corruption that is still being washed over. Officer Sewell was a good leader and Pocomoke needs him, but good old boy politics seems to out rule common sense in this town. I don't believe I'm the only one in this town who thinks we need to bring in new faces in positions of leadership in Pocomoke and give Sewell back his job so that maybe we can get Pocomoke to the great town it as all the promise to be.
Where is the Worcester County Naacp?
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