ANNAPOLIS, Md. (July 30, 2024) – Today, United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union, which represents the men and women of the Annapolis Police Department, announced plans to hold a vote of no confidence in Police Chief Edward Jackson and his command team.
The vote will take place electronically on Thursday, August 8, 2024 following a meeting of the officers.
“We don’t make this decision lightly,” said John Lee, UFCW Local 400 Collective Bargaining Director and former Annapolis Police Detective. “A vote of no confidence in leadership is a serious sign of trouble in the department, and in this case we feel it is absolutely merited.”
The vote comes on the heels of meetings with the city administration raising serious issues plaguing the department’s leadership team, including the chief’s failure to maintain the department’s Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Accreditation, known as the “gold standard in public safety.”
The union also disputes the recent suspension of two officers and union shop stewards for reporting waste and mismanagement to City Hall. The retaliatory disciplinary action is in violation of Section 3-110 of Maryland Code, which protects officers from unlawful discipline for reporting mismanagement (among other things). The suspensions also violate federal labor law that protects union members speaking to management about their working conditions. The union has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges and grievances against the department, and is supporting the two officers in filing an injunction to reverse the suspensions.
“As with any workplace, we will do everything in our power to protect our members from unlawful retaliation by management,” said Mark P. Federici, President of UFCW Local 400. “The officers who met with the mayor did so as whistleblowers and union shop stewards on behalf of their fellow officers and union members. We will not tolerate any retaliation against them for responsibly performing their duties.”
# # #
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is led by President Mark Federici and represents law enforcement officers of the Annapolis Police Department, in addition to 35,000 members working in the grocery, retail, health care, food processing, service and other industries in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. www.ufcw400.org