Lowry’s modest police dept. reforms a gift to Chief Awad

Somewhere on Amal Awad’s to- do list as the new Anne Arundel County chief of police, we hope there is a reminder to send William Lowry a thank you note.

Along with admirably running the department in the interim between chiefs, deputy chief Lowry took on a long- overdue task thatwould have fallen on Awad’s desk. He launched a review of police misconduct during the administration of former county executive John Leopold and took steps to prevent a repeat of some of the most egregious examples.

This may seem like ancient history. Leopold was convicted in 2013 on two counts of misconduct for having his staff and security detail help with political work, including collecting campaign contribution checks and personal tasks like emptying his catheter bag. Leopold maintains his innocence.

There were many allegations, including the creation of dossiers on Leopold’s political enemies using police resources.

One of the files created was on longtime Annapolis civil rights activist Carl Snowden, who won a civil judgment against Leopold for his actions. A judge awarded Snowden just $ 1, not because of a lack of seriousness but because Leopold’s political hit job was so incompetent, there was no actual damage.

Police conducted an internal investigation of all this back in 2012, following the resignation of Police Chief James Teare. Its findings or any disciplinary actions have never been made public, although the unit was restructured to be part of a different division within the department.

Fast forward to July, and Snowden asked Police Chief Tim Altomare to conduct an internal review of actions under Leopold. After Altomare resigned on July 31, the request passed to Lowry.

Lowry spoke to prosecutors in Leopold’s case and reviewed the dossiers compiled by police and more than 1,300 transcript pages. Hewas briefed by a former Office of Law attorney on the ACLU lawsuit on Snowden’s behalf. Those files contained National Crime Information Center checks, FBI criminal history searches, Maryland Motor Vehicle data and other information.

There forms are modest. The unit is now overseen by the commander of the Office of Professional Standards, which going forward will have all overtime and transfer requests approved by the police chief who consults with the department leadership and legal staff about transfers so “that favoritism, retaliation, etc. cannot be in play,” Lowry wrote.

New procedures include periodic checks on unit members’ search history of those databases to ensure they are being used appropriately. The goal is to prevent a repeat of the abuses under Leopold.

These are logical steps that should have been taken years ago, and you have to wonder about the delay. We suspect that the amount of time lapsed allowed anyone involved to retire or reestablish their credibility, benefiting from a policy to let sleeping dogs snooze on as long as no one was screaming a wake- up call. Make no mistake Awad is aware of this history. She served under Altomare as a civilian chief of staff, a de facto deputy chief. Just as the former chief knew some of those involved, Awad would have understood how badly the Leopold- era disrupted the department during her brief time on the job.

Altomare followed Kevin Davis as chief, an outsider tapped under Leopold’s appointed successor as county executive, LauraNeuman. Bothmen made it their job to move past troubling history, not dig into it. But eventually, some public reform steps were needed.

Would Awad have gone further because of her experience within the police department? Perhaps. But Lowry’s actions give her the freedom to make changes one step further removed from a sorry era in department history.

And that is a giftworth acknowledging.