Cockamamie Leadership

Ellen Moyer's stewardship of Annapolis Government may be the only thing that makes Governor O'Malley look like he's got a clue:

The mayor of Annapolis says the national search for a new police chief is being postponed indefinitely to allow the interim chief to implement his vision for the agency.

Michael Pristoop, a former lieutenant in the Baltimore City Police Department, took over the department in May after Chief Joseph S. Johnson announced his retirement. Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, whose second and final term ends next year, said at the time that she was wary of selecting a permanent chief with the possibility that her successor would want to make his or her own choice.

But officials say Pristoop has so far won rave reviews from the community, and a consulting group commissioned last fall to study the department recommended that he be brought on permanently. Pristoop had already implemented or recognized many of the initiatives suggested by the group by the time the $60,000 report was presented.

Moyer postponed the search indefinitely last month in an memo to members of the city council's public safety committee, saying that "conducting a full national search for a police chief at this time may be detrimental to reorganization of the police department.

I think that it's great that they are going to leave the Acting Chief in charge for the time being. But what kind of cockamamie, half-brained leader decides to "indefinitely postpone" a search for a successor?

Either the Acting Chief is the new Chief...or he isn't. You can't indefinitely postpone a search while leaving somebody in the acting role due to the fact that it undermines the chain of the command and the authority of the individual in charge. Why should the rank and file Annapolis police officers take the Pristoop's reorganization and vision seriously if Moyer can run him out of town for a new chief at any time. But given Moyer's record on crime and police matters, it's hardly surprising.

Ellen Moyer could never be characterized as a leader worth of respect. But even this is a new low for her horrifically poor management of Annapolis during her term.