A city councilman is demanding that the Police Department take action against three city officers - including the brother of Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III - who have yet to be disciplined for internal violations in connection with a federal race discrimination complaint.
Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young sent a letter last week to several high-ranking city officials asking why no action has been taken since charges were sustained early last year against three former homicide detectives - Lt. James W. Hagin Jr., Detective Paul A. Kidd and former Detective Charles E. Bealefeld - stemming from an incident in which a black homicide detective said he was ordered to look at Ku Klux Klan Web sites.
Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department has until March 17 to hand down penalties and that questions about the process are premature.
"There's a process governed by departmental policy and law to adjudicate these issues, and I don't think the councilman has anything to be concerned about," Guglielmi said.
Young's letter is the first time the name of Charles Bealefeld has publicly surfaced in connection with the incident, which drew headlines last year when the initial complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He was not involved in the incident but was found to have given a false report about it to investigators, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Bealefeld, a 26-year veteran, was transferred out of homicide to the Southern District's detective unit after the allegation and left the agency last fall to join the Annapolis Police Department.
Annapolis Police Chief Michael A. Pristoop, a former Baltimore police commander, said that a background check on Bealefeld did not turn up the EEOC charge. He declined to comment on whether the finding could affect Bealefeld's current employment.
"I was aware that he's a good police officer and had a good employment record, from the information we received," Pristoop said. "We're very concerned about sustained administrative charges and certainly, depending on the level of seriousness, they can have a bearing on our decision."
Clarke F. Ahlers, an attorney for the detective who filed the complaint, Sgt. Kelvin Sewell, said he is worried about the impending deadline for the department to mete out any punishment, which he believes is March 5. He said he has seen charges overturned in cases because the statute of limitations had expired.
