Sources say morale among Frederick City Police Officers is at an all time low after this incident
Frederick, MD (RH) – Alleged out-of-town protesters surrounded police cars in downtown during a contentious event Friday night, according to authorities.
Police chief Jason Lando addressed the situation during an appearance on the WFMD’s Morning News Express Monday. Lando wanted to dispel rumors that police officers were told not to make arrests.
“There was some sort of allegation that we were not allowing arrests to be made,” said Lando. “That is not accurate. There is a difference between us allowing arrests to be made and having an opportunity for us to safely make arrests.”
Lando admitted that the department may have to review its policy when it comes to protestors intimidating police who are trying to do their job.
“A couple of months ago we put some information out for the public and for our officers that allowed us a clear guideline as to how we were going to respond to protests,” he said. “One of the things that we did not address clearly in those guidelines is what we would do if we were put in a position of a tactical disadvantage.”
Lando accepted responsibility for a concrete policy not being in place in situations like the one that arose Friday. He also said that his officers were caught off guard because the situation escalated quickly.
“I did not know until the end of the protests how many police cars had been surrounded,” Lando said. “Thankfully, none of the officers were injured and the cars were not damaged. We cannot allow that to happen. We cannot allow our police officers to be in their police cars with the inability to get out of their cars and take action if needed.”
Lando emphasized that the group that descended upon the downtown area was not from Frederick and that he believes the group came to Frederick specifically to cause problems.
Anonymous sources have told WFMD News that morale among Frederick City Police Officers is at an all time low after this incident.