Eleven months after a Prince George's County sheriff's department SWAT unit raided the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, he filed a lawsuit to hold the county and state accountable and prevent future incidents.
"I am tired of being embarrassed by Prince George's County government. Our communities are tired of being embarrassed by this county's failed leadership. Prince George's County deserves better. Every citizen, every resident of this county deserves better," Calvo said at a news conference Monday at his house.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County by Calvo, his wife, Trinity Tomsic, and Tomsic's mother, Georgia Porter, against Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson; Shawn Scarlata, the lead detective in the Prince George's County Police Department's narcotics enforcement division; the state of Maryland; Prince George's County; and two "John Doe" deputy sheriffs, whose names have yet to be released to Calvo.
Jackson is the highest elected law enforcement official in the county. Calvo is seeking unspecified damages and a change in how warrants are executed.
Prince George's County spokesman James P. Keary said he could not comment at this time.
On July 29, Calvo's Berwyn Heights home was raided by a sheriff's department SWAT unit after a package slated for delivery to the home was found to contain marijuana. During the raid, the family's Labrador retrievers, Payton and Chase, were shot and killed. Calvo has filed complaints that police and deputies needlessly shot the dogs when they raided his house.
Calvo and Tomsic were cleared of any involvement in drug activity, and police linked the 32-pound package of marijuana listed for delivery at their home to a FedEx courier who was later arrested.
Calvo's lawsuit came after a June 19 statement from Jackson regarding the conclusion of an internal investigation into the raid. Jackson commended his deputies, who he said "did their job to the fullest extent of their abilities" and "acted in a professional and acceptable manner" when they shot the dogs.
"We stand behind our findings," said Prince George's County sheriff's department spokesman Mario Ellis, who said he could not comment further because of the pending lawsuit.
In the statement released by Jackson, he said less lethal ways of containing the dogs, such as closing them in a room, would have been implemented, however, the statement said Porter was heard yelling "SWAT," and the team decided that "an immediate entry was deemed necessary [and] unfortunately the occupants had no opportunity to put the dogs away."
Tomsic said Jackson incorrectly blamed her mother for the dogs being shot.
"What should her response have been?" she asked.
To date, Calvo said he has not been given an incident report, any physical evidence such as the photos of the dogs, the names of the deputies who fired the shots or the name of the FedEx driver and his alleged accomplice who were arrested for the crime. The family is also still waiting for the investigatory report.
"Fortunately for us all, in our system of government, Sheriff Jackson is not the final arbiter of justice, and we have the right to appeal this matter to higher authorities," Calvo said.
Calvo said he is deeply troubled that the sheriff's department deploys its SWAT team 700 times per year and that the sheriff's department initially stated they had a "no-knock" warrant, which was later proven false.
Calvo said another reason he and his family are filing a lawsuit now is because of a letter they received dated May 22 from the police internal affairs division commander stating that their complaint had been submitted to the Citizens' Complaint Oversight Panel, which would review the complaint and would return it to the commander during the week of July 29.
"This means that, because the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights imposes a one-year statute of limitations on administrative actions against officers, even if this report finds wrongdoing, any police officer so found will be protected against adverse action," Calvo said.
Calvo was instrumental in getting state leaders to enact in May the nation's first statewide legislation to oversee SWAT team deployments. The SWAT bill requires police from each city and county to submit reports every six months on activities by their armed special tactical units, including how many times they were deployed and if guns were fired.
