Police Chief Says State Knew About Controversial Cop’s Disciplinary History When It Approved Hire

A former Eastern Shore police chief says Maryland officials had all “pertinent” internal affairs files when they approved his department’s decision to hire a problem-plagued cop from Delaware now at the center of the Anton Black controversy.

But the state disagrees, saying the documents the local police shared with state officials reflected only “minor” personnel matters – and not potentially disqualifying information about the history of the Greensboro police officer, Thomas Webster IV.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services must certify every police officer hired by local police agencies after reviewing the officer’s application, along with the record and related paperwork submitted by the police department that wants to hire the officer. But community activists and civil rights groups on the Eastern Shore are suggesting that Webster – one of three police officers who took the 19-year-old teenager into custody shortly before he died last September – should never have been hired in the first place.

More