The Kent Bureau of Investigations, launched 18 months ago to target major crimes, is showing some strains.
The KBI shifted its base of operations from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office to a headquarters on Dixon Drive in the Chestertown industrial park – and Sheriff John Price ordered his deputies assigned to the unit not to make the move.
“They wanted me to send my people to another location, and with my limited resources I couldn’t see us being able to do that,” says the sheriff. “I’m not sure that we, the sheriff and the state police, share the same beliefs when it comes to supervision and accountability.”
Or as Lt. Dwayne Boardman of Maryland State Police puts it, “The sheriff decided he is not willing to have his investigators located in the remote location of Chestertown, but he is still going to be a partner with KBI.”
Both law agencies tried putting some positive spin on the apparent rift.
Sheriff Price says, “We are going back to the way we did business 18 months ago, where we have a criminal investigative unit here in the sheriff’s office, which served us very well over the years.” And he adds that his office “will be working with KBI from time to time as requested, giving assistance they may need.”
Lt. Boardman says, “We want the best for the citizens of Kent County and we’re hoping everyone works well together and shares information, which is very important to solving crime in the county.”
The Kent Bureau of Investigation is made up of up to five investigators from Maryland State Police, an investigator with the Chestertown Police Department, one from Rock Hall Police, with reinforcement from the Department of Natural Resources, and now, sometimes, two investigators from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
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