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Sunday, August 09, 2015

A Maryland Town Fires Its Black Police Chief, Exposing a Racial Rift

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. — Kelvin Sewell figured he had landed his dream job in 2010, when he retired as a Baltimore police officer to help run the tiny 16-member force in this little riverfront city, which calls itself “the friendliest town on the Eastern Shore.” A year later he became its first African-American police chief.

Blacks and whites have coexisted, sometimes uneasily, in Pocomoke for centuries, but Chief Sewell, with his easygoing manner, quickly fit in. He prodded officers to patrol on foot, pleasing business owners. He helped poor students fill out college applications. Crime, everyone agrees, went down on his watch.

But the chief’s abrupt dismissal in June, without explanation, by a white mayor and majority white City Council that voted along racial lines, has torn Pocomoke asunder, wrecking old friendships and exposing a deep racial rift in this community of roughly 4,100 people, split almost evenly between black and white.

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Publishers Notes: This New York Times article, (to me) seems somewhat unfair. It strongly suggests the issue at hand is a racial one, it is not. If they had found the right source they would have at least learned there is far more to this story then meets the eye. 

Now, I will say that probably no one will go on the record and or can give them first hand information and their job is to deliver the facts. However, suggesting it is a racial matter is not factual, it's suggestive and it  is the easy route. The article, (like most papers today) desperately goes after the wow factor. It suggests that the Town is still radical towards blacks and that it is run by whites. 

Well, blacks have every right to run for office and that has been proven in Princess Anne. It's a shame our Main Stream Media feels the need to continue a divide. No, there will not be a follow up story in the New York Times about WHY this Police Chief was let go when all is said and done. I can tell you however, there are numerous reasons for his dismissal and they are NOT racially motivated.

Finally, IF that were the case he would have never been chosen for the job, yet too many people dismiss that fact. They are stirring the national pot and continuing the racial divide in America and in my opinion is out of line. Let this run its course and let's stop the assumptions until due diligence is complete. 

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's my question...why is that Mike Dean, a funeral director and Marc Sher, a dress maker KNOW of the reasons Sewell was fired but yet no one else does. What makes them entitled by the Mayor and Council to know these facts??? If its a personnel issue why are Mike and Marc getting special privileges to know these facts? Neither is legal counsel they are not employed by the City? Anyone care to enlighten the public on how they know the reasons? Just those facts alone are enough to convince me the Mayor has to go!! Mike nor Marc should know why but yet they do!

Anonymous said...

So true.....This is not a racial issue. He was not fired bc of his color. I promise that when it comes out why they fired him, everyone will see it had nothing to do with race. Stupidity maybe a better term then race. And the article suggests that the officers who were supposedly targeted by the Mayor where put on "night Shifts". Well who put them there? The Mayor or the Chief. The Chief I would think can dictate WHAT SHIFTS HIS POLICE WORK. This is once again the old card of racism dropped on the table rather then just admitting he did something wrong or out of procedure. In time it will all come out, then your right, there will be no story......

JoeAlbero said...

It is a personnel matter. I happen to know why all this went down but out of respect for the States Attorney I am not exposing it. I happen to know that when all is said and done it will be proven the authorities made the right move.

Here's the problem though. Once all the dust settles and the Chief loses, will the media and residents who support the Chief come out and say this would have never happened if it was a white Chief?

This is why I have a problem with half ass'd reporting. Oh, if you think the Feds are out there investigating this as a race issue, you are sadly mistaken. This gets very deep and the Chief would have been far better off if he simply let it go. Now there's no turning back and of course the only way out is claiming it's racial.

I'll say this as well. I think all of you know me well enough to know I will stand by the underdog in all cases. IF this was a racial issue, I would be standing right by the Chief's side. IT IS NOT.

Anonymous said...

Well I hope that when the truth finally does surface Sewell decides to be a MAN and admit and apologize for how he has mislead people.
But I highly doubt that. Once a fraud always a fraud.

Anonymous said...


It's the New York Times, where the twisted tagline is 'some of the news we choose to print if it fits the narrative'.

It is ALL about spreading and supporting the narrative. Jesse, Al, Holder and Lynch will be right down after they get GPS directions.

More to the point, we have arrived at a place in time where minorities can routinely be hired because of their skills and experience, but can also lose jobs when they err or fail to produce. And that is a good thing. Equal opportunity to accomplish, and if not successful, next candidate, please.

Anonymous said...

I was a defended of the former Chief until I heard he had been terminated.
With this in mind (that I supported him) I had been hearing for well over 2 years many complaints about him, for instance (and I will only go this far) is that he was never in Pocomoke and was spending too much time on the Western Shore. This is the least serious of what I was hearing.
The ironic thing is JT is all about the former Chief. I have news for JT. Another person who he supports and if that person told JT to stop what he was doing and drive over and kiss their ass, JT would comply without question and go and give their ass a big slobbering kiss, was one of the persons who was telling me things critical about the former Chief. This was about 2 years ago and I still supported him because I didn't want to believe anything bad about him.

Anonymous said...

Previous comments have suggested that everyone will understand once the facts come out.In a perfect world maybe,but when the sharks begin to circle and the court of public opinion has ruled, a peaceful resolution won't happen.Don't attempt to infuse your level of intellect into an angry mob and expect them to understand.The national political climate is in play in Pocomoke,and it isn't pretty.Clear and concise thinking is not present here.

Anonymous said...

I for one DO NOT think it has anything to do with race...I think his call to the Justice Dept played a roll...I think his not bowing to Russ Blake's outrageous requests since Irving retired played a roll...I think Sewell's defiance of the whole situation with these two other officers played a roll...however, with all of the different stories coming from the City Attorney and Mayor and Council and the now retired Town Manager on who did what and when they knew it and also how grant money Russ Blake spent foolishly and NOT on what the grant was for played a roll. The city will have to pay that back..Ummm, the city gets its money from us the taxpayers!!! I can't honestly believe any reason at all that comes from them on the firing of this Chief. They make things up to suit the situation and to suit themselves as they go along...how can we be sure any of its the truth...and Joe as much as I like you if the State's Attorney told you the reason of his firing that's wrong and doesn't speak much to the character of Beau Ogelsby!! Have we seriously lost Joel Todd to him?????

Anonymous said...

You are jumping to conclusions 9:54. Joe didn't say the SA told him anything. I know a lot about this too, and I've not ever spoken one word to Beau Oglesby.

JoeAlbero said...

9:54, I have not spoken with the States Attorney, nor anyone who works for him.

I simply stated out of respect for their investigation on this matter I will not expose the facts that I know as it may interfere in their investigation.

I have been doing this for a lot of years and I know when to step back. All I am saying is, my sources are far better then anyone else and there will be a lot of eggs in several peoples faces when this is all said and done. That includes the New York Times.

I told ALL of you a long time go, STOP falling for our government trying to DIVIDE all of us. A big storm is headed our way in the United States. Some of you will be dumb enough to fall for the hype the Main Stream Media is feeding you, some of us will not. For the sake of future generations, I hope the majority of Americans wise up and see what is right in front of you.

There should be no place for racism, period. There should also be no place for fabricated racial tension and those creating it should be held accountable.

Anonymous said...

Sewell's a dope. I guess he thinks he's being clever by crying racism but all he is doing is allowing himself to be useful idiot to the NY Times and others who are out to make money off of anything they can twist into a racial issue.
At the end of the day, they will drop Sewell like a rotten potato and he will be the loser in all of this while those who are out promoting the faux racial narrative are laughing at him all the way to the bank.
Look at Baltimore City. Oh they were all there during the riots that they helped to promote. Now when it's all said and done parts of the city are in ruins with no hope of recovering and the violence is escalating each and every day. The promoters are all back home in their gated communities and the residents are left to live in the war zones. Sewell needs to wise up.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for being the voice of reason in this mess. When all is said and done I wonder if people will apologize to the mayor and council??

Anonymous said...

Ain't that the truth. Maybe the Justice Department need to investigate that breach of confidentiality. How about that.

Anonymous said...

An apology to the Mayor and Council will never come from me for sure! They have screwed up so much and not just in firing Sewell there's a whole laundry list of things they've done over the years that they deserve what they are getting now! For a great excample, is letting Russ Blake charge to the city credit card the way he did, his family ate better off the city's money than some folks in that town will ever, the council did nothing to stop that either! They exposed Frank White when he did it in Somerset well, they should see the charges Russ made!! Plus, the lack of professionalism coming from that table is outrageous! If Joe knows, the funeral director knows and a dressmaker knows why they fired Sewell then that just goes to show you one of them is talking to somebody and saying things that should have been kept confidential, how else would these folks know what's going on? I hope the Justice Department comes in to find out who the breach of confidentiality was thru because some on that council are so unprofessional its outrageous!

Anonymous said...

12:37 PM

You've used up this week's allotment of exclamation points.

Anonymous said...

What breach of confidentiality 12:03. For the past several years all any PC resident had to do was keep their ears and eyes open and they could see and hear that not all was as it appeared to be.
I've heard complaints from people who work at local hospitals and teachers not even in Pocomoke who were saying the drugs coming out of there were bad and nothing was being done about it.
This would be a sign of incompetence on the part of Sewell.

Anonymous said...

Umm this isn't the same mayor and council... They do have elections. Russ was/is corrupt just as jd Irvin was corrupt. Sewell is off the same make. There are plenty of people who know what they've done. What makes you think the council leaked anything?? People are finally starting to try to clean up the corruption and People lose their minds.

Anonymous said...

I live in Pocomoke and this NY Times article couldn't have been worse if they tried. I am not saying you do not have a select few who hold ill will towards others because of their race, but the majority of the town is very easy going. I never had issues growing up in the town with anyone because of race and I still do not see it today. Everyone wants to jump on the race bandwagon. I have a question, if the town is so racist and divided because the leaders of the town are white, how in the hell did Chief Sewell even get hired???????????? Do people not have enough common sense to realize this? If they didn't want a black Chief of Police, why would they hire one in the first place?

Anonymous said...

@12:37 the DOJ has already been there....everyone brings up Russ Blake in this situation, why weren't you all complaining for the past 40 years?

Anonymous said...

This town is a total disaster+ POS Anyone with any sense is getting out... Sorry...

Oath Keepers. said...

Joe, great points you bring up...Have you thought about a 2016 run?

Local or in DC?

Anonymous said...

The article is aimed toward the low information people. People who haven't a clue how it is in the real world. Former Chief Sewell knows better than anyone how racism is basically non existent on the Eastern Shore compared to other areas. Blacks and whites live side by side.
I've lived in his former neck of the woods. The Guilford section of Baltimore, a prominent area and a bastion of liberalism. I've also lived in Northern Va another bastion of elite "do as I say not as I do" liberalism.
If a black stepped foot in either area people were calling 911 like mad to report a suspicious person. Then they call the neighbors to "warn" them and you'd see the neighbors outside getting their dog in so it doesn't' get stolen and you'd see and hear them outside hitting their remote keys to make sure car doors were locked.
If ladies are standing outside talking to one another or people are on their front porches in these areas and a black comes within sight, the white residents quietly go into their homes.
Around here if you are sitting on your porch and someone walks by black or white you usually wave or nod and get a wave or a nod back. Same thing when you are driving down the roads. People are waving to each other all the time that don't even know each other both black and white.
The former chief knows this and even addressed in his own book how surprised he was that people waved to him in Pocomoke.
So interesting how he had this change of heart and everyone is now a racist.

Anonymous said...

If he wasn't doing his job sorry for his luck. I heard him speak on TV and he couldn't formulate a proper sentence. He should have never been hired just because he was black.

God said...

All you white people on here who keep posting derogatory, racist, untruths and slander... you seem awful racist. I can tell you - i examined writings, grammar behaviour for a living for many, many years and i know who you are. That's warning #1.
Keep it up, and i WILL out you, causing more than a law suit and strife against you, for MANY people who are fed up with your nonsense.
Yes, you definitely have a right to your own opinion. But please dont forget, some of you ARE law enforcement personnel/city officials. You MUST be aware of the laws protecting EVERYONE from the likes of you, who say things (derogatory, racist, untruths and slander, ETC) that CAN be used against you in a court of Law.