The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Baltimore County police?s treatment of officers with disabilities, after a detective was ordered to undergo a brain scan.
At a hearing in U.S. District Court concerning a lawsuit filed against the department by Detective William Blake, attorney Kathleen Cahill said federal attorneys are looking to see if the police illegally ordered the scan ? which some doctors say can cause seizures ? as retribution for Blake and two other officers testifying on behalf of a fourth officer at an administrative hearing.
“The Department of Justice has entered the case on behalf of all four officers,” she said. “They have taken this unusual step. They?re back in Baltimore County investigating.”
The conflict began after Philip Crumbacker, a 22-year veteran, was declared medically unfit for duty after crashing his car during a seizure in 2004.
Blake and two other officers testified on Crumbacker?s behalf during an administrative hearing that each had single episodes similar to seizures but were fit for duty and experienced no subsequent medical problems. Former Baltimore County Police Chief Terrence Sheridan, who now heads the state police, ordered each to submit to fit-for-duty exams the day after the hearing.
Blake, a 30-year veteran, suffered a seizure in 1996 but was cleared for duty one month later.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Benson Legg said it was obvious that Blake is “fit for duty.”
Cahill said the scan is payback for the officer?s testimony.
“The department was not happy that the officers testified at the Crumbacker hearing,” she said.
Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson, who attended Friday?s hearing, declined to comment on the federal investigation but said he was watching the case closely.
Johnson said it was important that commanders know which officers who are prone to seizures, for “public safety” concerns.
“You wouldn?t want to have a sniper situation, for instance, with officers and citizens on the ground, where the sniper has a seizure,” he said.
Examiner Staff Writer Jaime Malarkey contributed to this story.
