On July 1st, Frederick County named eleven residents to serve on its inaugural Police Accountability Board (PAB).
112 people applied to be a part of the Board, and those selected come from diverse backgrounds, including law enforcement, human resources, behavioral health, military, business, and law. Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner described the extensive process for appointing members to the county’s PAB in a press release:
‘We saw an extraordinary level of community interest with this board,’ Executive Gardner said. ‘The individuals I am appointing reflect a wide diversity in their backgrounds, life and work experience, race, LGBTQ status, and ethnicity. Two of the appointees are first generation immigrants.
‘Most important,’ she continued, ‘these individuals reflect an interest in fairness and understand the responsibility associated with serving on our first Board. I am confident they will represent county residents well and will fairly balance the legitimate and sometimes competing interests that will be considered by the Board.’
Appointees to the Frederick County Police Accountability Board include the following:
Dawn Oram will serve as chair of the Board. She is a human resources professional and will serve a three-year term. Other appointees, their expertise, and their years of term, include:
- Shannon Bohrer – Retired law enforcement (3 years)
- Robert Effler – Military/intelligence (resident of Brunswick) (term 2 years)
- Shawn Goldstein* – Commercial Real Estate (term 2 years)
- Ivonne Gutiérrez* – Human Resources/Corrections; Labor Relations (term 2 years)
- Katherine Jones* – Lawyer (term 3 years)
- Therese Keegan* – Behavioral Health, Clinical Chaplain (term 1 year)
- Anthony Koomson* – International Humanitarian Aid (term 3 years)
- Nestor “Neal” Machin – IT System Engineering/Former Marine (term 1 year)
- Gabrielle Wachter – Project Management/Writer (term 1 year)
- Randolph Waesche Jr. – Emergency Management (resident of Thurmont) (term 2 years)
Counties had until July 1st to comply with the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021. However, state regulations providing much-needed clarity concerning the selection and implementation of PABs were only made available over this past week. The regulations do not limit the size of PABs leading to significant variation among counties. Montgomery County, for example, opted to include nine members on its PAB.
