Members of the Annapolis Police union issued a vote of no confidence Thursday night against Chief Ed Jackson, creating further distance between the five-year commander and his rank-and-file.
The approximately 100 officers represented by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 were invited to participate in an electronic, secret ballot vote at home, on the job, or in a union meeting at the Fleet Reserve Club on Compromise Street.
According to police spokesperson Miguel Dennis, as of July 10, the department employs 116 officers.
Jonathan Williams, a union spokesperson, explained ahead of the vote that it could succeed with a simple majority of only the officers who participate, not the entire membership. On Thursday, the union said 54 supported the no-confidence vote while 30 were against it. There were 99 eligible voters, according to Williams.
“Today’s vote is a resounding rebuke of the current leadership of the department and is a direct result of a litany of concerns raised by our members on the force. The loss of CALEA accreditation, unlawfully retaliating against our members for raising issues with management, and the overall us-versus-them mentality of the leadership staff have adversely affected morale and diminished our members’ confidence in their command,” the union said in a statement. “Our members have spoken; it’s time for the mayor to listen. We call for the immediate removal of Chief Jackson and his leadership team.”
The vote has no legal ramifications for Jackson, whose position atop the department has been reaffirmed by Mayor Gavin Buckley’s “full confidence.” However, as an action, it represents the ongoing disagreements between leaders of the law enforcement agency and its officers’ union.
In March, shop stewards, including active and retired personnel, met with Annapolis City Manager Mike Malinoff and Human Resources Manager Patricia Hopkins to report “waste and mismanagement” at the department, the union wrote in a statement last month. Weeks later, they followed up with Buckley, a meeting that prompted Jackson to suspend two unnamed officers for allegedly bringing “discredit” to the city’s police force.
Union representatives quickly chastised the chief for retaliating against “whistleblowers” exposing issues with his leadership — a description the mayor did not agree with. In an interview, Buckley said he interpreted the complaints relayed to him as “personal disagreements” with the chief’s direction.
On Thursday, following the union vote, the mayor issued a statement again endorsing the chief, who he appointed in 2019. The City Council tasked him to implement a model of community policing, Buckley said. Nothing about the vote can take away from achievements under Jackson’s leadership, which include changes requested by union members, Buckley said.
“I know that change is not always easy and there is never complete agreement on all things in any organization. That is clear from the events of the past two weeks. I am always willing to hear ideas that will help make things even better and engage in constructive dialogue,” Buckley said in the statement. “That dialogue is underway in the APD with personnel meetings held in the past few weeks and a plan to take the conversation forward through listening sessions and other initiatives.”
Buckley also said he is proud of the whole police department and he knows it’s staffed with “highly-trained” professionals doing their job to help people and prevent and solve crime.
“Public safety is their highest priority,” Buckley said. “I believe their professionalism, the leadership and vision of Chief Jackson and his team, and the community policing model they are delivering together will continue to bring great outcomes for our community.”
Contacted by phone, Jackson said he was not surprised by the results but that he is grateful for the support of the mayor, the Caucus of African American Leaders and others in the community. Jackson said the community, which he called his “real customers,” comes first, not the union.
He’s looking forward to thanking those who have confidence in him so “we can continue the good work that we’ve done.” He reflected on that good work as a reason why he won’t dwell on the vote.
“So, while Local 400 has spoken tonight in terms of their confidence in me, I’m going to continue for as long as the city will have me to lead the department in terms of a good community-based policing model,” Jackson said.
With the vote behind him, Jackson said he hopes there will be a meaningful discourse that includes every Annapolis resident about how to move forward as a community to continue working to make the city safe.
The chief has voiced his frustrations with the union’s recent actions and statements, saying that while he wants the group to like him, he doesn’t “need them to.”
In an Aug. 1 interview with the Capital Gazette, Jackson expressed concern with what he called a “rogue investigation” into Deputy Chief Stan Brandford, whose movements working remotely were tracked through his police vehicle. At the time, Brandford was tending to his 22-year-old daughter who had suffered a nearly fatal heart attack. As of Thursday, the union has not elaborated on what “waste and mismanagement” it reported to Buckley and declined to address the Brandford probe.
Jackson has described the union’s public condemnations and efforts to remove him and his command staff as racist — an accusation the union has rebuked — and explained he suspended the two officers because he had “lost faith in their ability to take direction.”
“I don’t want this to get lost. A lot of this, I believe, is racism,” Jackson said in an Aug. 1 interview. “I believe that many of them are not used to taking direction from a Black man.”
A former colonel and inspector general with the Baltimore Police Department, Jackson has embraced a social form of policing focused on both public safety and addressing the ills that lead to crime.
Over his five years in the department, the chief has earned the respect and praise of several civil rights leaders in the area, who have commended his presence in the community and initiatives such as a reentry program connecting citizens transitioning home from prison with job training.
In July, the Caucus of African American Leaders issued a vote of confidence in Jackson’s administration, its first after publicly condemning the two chiefs preceding Jackson:
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, the group reiterated its support with a full-page advertisem*nt in the Capital Gazette. It featured the names of 74 activists, retired police personnel, clergy members, and the leaders of the Anne Arundel County NAACP and Maryland’s Prince Hall Freemasonry, which consists largely of Black Freemasons.
The ad, caucus convenor Carl Snowden said, demonstrated the coalition’s “unequivocal” support for Jackson.
“We fully expect the mayor and the city council will reaffirm their support for Chief Jackson,” Snowden said.
Among the names in the advertisem*nt were Ward 5 Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier and Ward 6 Alderman DaJuan Gay. Schandelmeier, along with Ward 3 Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles, participated in the Caucus of African American Leaders’ July 10 endorsem*nt of Jackson.
Charles, who also serves as chair of the city’s Public Safety Committee, did not sign onto the caucus advertisem*nt Thursday and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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