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Washington Post - Washington,D
26 April 2007

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Prince George's County Police,

Police Inspector Faces Probe

Prince George's County Police Inspector General Mark K. Spencer is facing a departmental investigation after an officer complained that Spencer improperly interfered with an inquiry into assault charges against former county homeland security official Keith A. Washington, police officials and law enforcement sources say.

The investigation into Spencer's role in the case was launched after a veteran police investigator assigned to the Washington assault inquiry filed a complaint against Spencer with the department's internal affairs division April 9, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.

The investigator, whose name was redacted from The Post's copy of the complaint, wrote that he had been advised by the state's attorney's office that police did "not have probable cause to remove" firearms from Washington's residence. The investigator alleges in the complaint that Spencer nonetheless tried to order him for "political reasons" to fill out a search warrant for weapons at Washington's home after he was charged with assault.

Spencer, a former deputy state's attorney who was appointed to his current post by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) three years ago, denies any wrongdoing, saying he was specifically asked by Police Chief Melvin C. High to follow Washington's case.

"I believe it was absolutely proper and the reasonable thing to do," Spencer said.

The dust-up is the latest twist in a complex and politically charged case that began in January, when Washington, a police corporal and until recently deputy homeland security director, shot two Marlo furniture deliverymen in his Accokeek home. One, Brandon D. Clark, 22, subsequently died. Washington says the shooting was in self-defense.

The investigation into that incident continues. In a separate case, Washington has been charged with assault for allegedly drawing a gun on a real estate appraiser who mistakenly knocked on Washington's door April 4 -- a charge Washington denies.

According to the complaint filed with internal affairs, Spencer allegedly told the investigator in the assault inquiry that Washington's case is fraught with "political implications." It added that Spencer "became angry, hit his hand on his desk, and raised his voice," when the investigator, citing a lack of legal grounds for such a search, refused to write up the warrant. The investigator said Washington later willingly agreed to hand over a shotgun and a rifle he kept in his home.

Spencer is a veteran prosecutor who in 2002 lost a bid for the county's top law enforcement job to State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey. He said High asked him to oversee parts of the assault case against Washington to ensure its integrity.

Spencer, 48, said he was simply following High's directive when he asked the investigator for the search warrant. The inspector general said the decision to confiscate weapons at Washington's home seemed logical given that the police department had received "a number of calls" from Washington's neighbors and others expressing concern for their safety after the incident.

"The chief thought long and hard about that but again under the totality of the circumstances he believed [Washington's] judgment may have been seriously impaired and not entirely intact," Spencer said. "So he decided the search warrant would be a way to ask the court to intervene in that way to assure that there wouldn't be any possibility of [Washington] injuring himself or members of the community."

High confirmed Spencer's account, saying in an interview Tuesday that he ordered the search warrant for the guns.

"We have a situation in which we have an officer who's been involved in two incidents and there are concerns about him posing a danger to himself or others," High said. "It's my view that he should not have access to any guns while these cases are pending."

Ivey said he had not heard about the investigation into Spencer's role in the Washington case. But he said he was aware of the dispute over the search warrant. He confirmed that his office advised police that there was no probable cause for the warrant and also that prosecutors would take up the matter of confiscating weapons from Washington at a bond hearing.

News of the investigation into one of the department's highest-ranking officials comes three months after Washington shot Clark and Robert White, 36, with his police-issued 9mm Beretta after a dispute over a bed set. Grand jurors are reviewing the Jan. 24 shooting and the alleged April 4 assault against real estate appraiser Kevin King.

King, 39, of Columbia said in a statement that Washington drew a gun on him and approached him in a "threatening and deadly manner" after he knocked on the door of Washington's home in the 1500 block of Shellford Lane.

Washington, a former driver for Johnson, was appointed by the county executive to the homeland security post in 2004. Washington was suspended from the police department April 5. His job as deputy homeland security director ended April 6, county spokesman John Erzen said yesterday.

Michael Winkelman, an attorney for both King and White, called the investigation into Spencer's role "disturbing" but said it is not surprising. Winkelman said he also became concerned about Spencer's intentions after he received two phone calls from Spencer about King a day after the alleged assault.

Winkelman said Spencer raised questions about King's credibility during a brief phone conversation and left a terse voice-mail message questioning the veracity of King's story.

"The tone was confusing. I didn't understand why the call had been initiated and the nature of the call," Winkelman said.

Spencer said he spoke with Winkelman after learning that Winkelman was King's attorney, and later left a voice-mail message for Winkelman after learning that King had not completed his statement about the incident. He said he was simply following High's orders to assist with the case.

"I wanted to know is this your client, really. Is he credible and what are his intentions, because at that point we'd heard of the incident but we didn't really have much to corroborate it," Spencer said.

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Washington Post - Washington,D26 April 2007

Police Inspector Faces Probe

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Washington Post - Washington,D
26 April 2007