The Salisbury Police Department (SPD) is a
nationally accredited full-service agency servicing a population of 33,050 persons within of the municipality of
Salisbury, in the
U.S. state of
Maryland.
The Chief of Police, since September 25, 2023, is David Meienschein. Chief Meienschein is eleventh chief of police for the Salisbury Police Department.
History
SPD became accredited on April 26, 1987, becoming the 45th agency accredited by the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
In 2011, the Salisbury Police Department partnered with the
Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore
The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES) was established in 1984, and is located in Salisbury, Maryland. Its mission is to "To strengthen our community by connecting people who care with causes that matter to improve quality of life ...
to create two funds. The first is a College Scholarship program to send a future Salisbury Police Officer to Wor-Wic Community College. The second is a fund to re-establish the Mounted Unit and to assist in the establishment of a K-9 Unit.
In October 2014, three separate lawsuits were filed against the Salisbury Police Department, all accusing the same officer of using excessive force. In 2017, the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
sued the Salisbury Police Department to gain access to the settlement agreement for one of those suits.
On May 26, 2020, one day after the
murder of George Floyd, an incident occurred in which an officer from the Department put his hand on the neck of 18-year-old Camren Colon, who was being detained for
disorderly conduct.
In response to
bodycam video of the incident, Police Chief Barbara Duncan said "At no time... was my officer attempting to execute a neck restraint, a chokehold, or restrict the airflow of Mr. Colon." Lawyers representing the Colon family later disagreed, with one stating that the maneuver shown in bodycam video was "absolutely" a neck restraint.
The use of neck restraints is prohibited by the Department's use of force policy.
References
External links
Salisbury Police Department - Official Website
{{Law enforcement agencies in Maryland
Salisbury