When Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley fired the former police chief last year, there was a hue and cry about the fairness of it all.
If there was any doubt that change was needed in the Annapolis Police Department, it should be removed by this: 28 killings since 2000 remain unsolved.
Annapolis has recorded 84 homicides over the past 19 years and police have closed two-thirds of them. That’s comparable with national trends. But considering it acceptable because it’s on par with other cities is a sure sign that the department’s leadership needed a shakeup.
After a national search, Buckley brought in Ed Jackson as the new chief last summer. In the first significant change he’s announced since taking over on Taylor Avenue, Jackson has hired Stanley Brandford as the department’s new cold case investigator. He’s probably more than that.
Brandford is most likely the nucleus of a new homicide unit within the department.
There are currently 10 detectives assigned to criminal investigations, three to drug enforcement and three to intelligence. Those that investigate crimes could handle a homicide one day and an armed robbery the next.
Jackson called that a problem. The average homicide investigation goes cold in approximately 48 to 78 hours, and Annapolis detectives — no matter how hard-working — can only be stretched so far.
Brandford is a civilian employee, so he does not have the power to arrest or charge someone. He will work with officers to close cases.
More importantly, hiring Brandford should be taken as a sign that Annapolis is putting resources into a crime that most often claims victims from the city’s African American population.
Baltimore, of course, has hundreds of homicides each year. The level of gun violence in the city to the north is Maryland’s shame.
But Annapolis has its own problems. Brandford has reviewed 17 cases, almost all of which, he says, involved young black men or teens shot to death. Solving these crimes will involve getting past the no-snitch culture that has stymied police so far.
Annapolis police recorded four homicides in 2019. They made an arrest in just one. A Baltimore man was charged with murder after he allegedly gunned down Edward Montre Seay, 32, better known as Tre Da Kid, along Forest Drive in June. James Esau Davis III, 30, is scheduled to stand trial next summer. At some point, Brandford could review the other 2019 fatal shootings: Elijah Wilson, Tierra Taylor and Sandy Campos.
Hard police work made an arrest happen in the death of Seay, combining tips from the community with video footage.
More is needed.
The appointment of a cold case investigator is a first good step. The creation of a dedicated homicide team or unit would be another.
Jackson appears to be on the right path.
