At the August City Council meeting, members were surprised to learn that Major David Stem of the Carroll County Sherriff’s Office had joined the Taneytown Police Department on August 7 as a consultant to enhance the administrative efficiency of the department.
Following the announcement, City Attorney Jack Gallo expressed concern that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had not been filed in regards to Major Stem joining the Taneytown Police. This is essentially a letter of intent allowing the Carroll County Sheriff's Office to work within Taneytown’s City limits. As of now Taneytown is the only City in Carroll County that does not have an existing MOU with the sheriff's office. Without an MOU if the Sheriff’s office were to assist during a call within city limits there could be legal repercussions, said Gallo.
Councilman Christopher Tillman wondered why a MOU did not exist already, to which Gallo replied: "to our detriment, cooperation between the Sheriffs office and our Police Department was non-existent with one of our previous Police Chiefs. One of Major Stems duties is to help repair and bridge that gap."
Councilman James McCarron pointed out that with the addition of Major Stem, it seemed as if the City now had two acting Chiefs as they already have Major Mitchell. Gallo agreed, stating, "the chain of command is very important, Stem should be reporting to Mitchell."
Tillman also questioned who would be responsible for worker’s compensation if Major Stem was hurt while working for the Taneytown Police Department. He also wanted to see limitations of authority by defining Stems’ roles and responsibilities so it is understood that he is not running the Taneytown Police Department.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Chaney questioned when the decision to ‘hire’ Major Stem was even made, as she is the Police Liaison, and she didn’t know anything about it. Mayor Miller replied that he told all Council members about the meeting, but it was decided that only he, the City Manager, and the City attorney needed to attend it.
Miller was adamant that the Council was responsible for the lengthy hiring process of the police chief, as they wanted certain requirements for the chief that seemed hard to find. As of the August meeting, only four applicants have applied in a two-and-a-half-month period. One requirement is the applicant must be a qualified police officer. Gallo pointed out that by law, you do not need to be a police officer to be a police chief. Councilwoman Diane Foster suggested the Council review the Police Chief job description and lower the requirements to widen the candidate pool.
After much debate, the Council decided that the best plan of action was to utilize Major Stem and directed the staff to draw up a MOU to address the concerns voiced by the Council as quickly as possible.
Stem's term was set for six months at which point a decision will be made to extend or terminate his consultant status. The Taneytown Police Department will be his full time responsibility and his appointment comes at no extra cost to the city.
