Policing In A Small Maryland Town

Oxford Commissioner Tom Costigan swearing in Chief Phillips on May 28, 2024

It was a path to the job of Oxford, Maryland Chief of Police that Chris Phillips probably didn’t imagine. His career in Law Enforcement started in 2014 as a road officer and then detective in Cambridge, Maryland. And while he loved being in law enforcement, he felt himself becoming jaded because what he described as a “lack of community support.” The City of Cambridge is no easy place to police with crime that some say rivals large cities. When he saw an opening advertised in the small town of Oxford in 2018, he met with the current Chief at the time, Pat Maxwell, to inquire.

What he saw was an opportunity to serve in the small town with the potential of job advancement later when Maxwell retired. He probably didn’t think “later” would be five years.

In 2023 when Maxwell suddenly and unexpectedly “retired,” it seemed that Oxford’s other policeman could possibly ascend to the position of Chief. Many in town, while bothered by how Chief Maxwell’s “retirement” was handled by town officials, felt that if anyone should have the post it should be Phillips.

Instead, the town went in a different direction and hired Eric Kellner, a retired Easton policeman to fill that roll. His tenure was rocky as there were questions about how exactly WHEN he was hired and his policies didn’t match the ideas of many residents in the small town. In other words, it just didn’t work.

When Kellner stepped down as Chief but stayed on the force, Phillips applied. Many residents of the town openly supported this opportunity for him to step up to the position and he was appointed Chief in May, 2024. Phillips and his family moved into the townhouse in Oxford that was designated for the Chief of Police.

Phillips says this was an adjustment for him and his family since his wife, Brittany, works in Dorchester County and his daughter had to change schools. But, the family of four (the Phillips’ also have a two-year-old) became Oxford residents.

While his time on the job has been fairly uneventful, it has not been easy. One of the biggest challenges is to maintain a police presence in Oxford with reduced staffing. The town is currently well covered with Phillips working 80 hours in two-week increments, Lt. Brandon Bobbick working 80 hours within two weeks as well, and additional coverage scheduled from the Talbot County Sheriff’s Department. The town has advertised for a third officer in the past but are no longer posting the vacancy. Phillips wants the retirement system improved for Oxford police officers to attract a higher quality applicant pool instead of trying to find the right employee in a much smaller set of applicants. “We don’t want to hire someone out of desperation and discover we hired the wrong person,” states Phillips.

Part of the problem is that Oxford does not participate in the State’s LEOPS retirement system. This puts the town at a distinct disadvantage since surrounding jurisdictions except for Easton do participate. Easton has its own retirement system. Being in the LEOPS system would be advantageous to Oxford police. Here is a summary of the plan Phillips shared with us: ( We have attached documents explaining this more).

Retirement Comparison

Current MD Retirement:

• Death Benefit Work Relate: Similar
• Death Benefit Not Work Related:
  • The survivor benefit is normally a onetime payment equal to your annual salary at date of death, plus any member contributions with accumulated interest
  • Vested Benefits: Age 65
  • Retirement:
    • Age 65 with at least ten years of eligibility service; or combined age and years of eligibility service equal to at least 90 (for example, 58 years old with 32 years of eligibility service)
    • 1.50% x Average Final Compensation x Years of Creditable Service = Annual Basic Allowance
      • Example: Age 58 with 32 years of service earning $75,000 year
        • 1.5% x $75,000 x 32 = $36,000 year
        • $36,000 / 12 = $3,000 month

LEOPS:

• Death Benefit Work Relate: Similar
• Death Benefit Not Work Related:
  • A single payment consisting of your accumulated member contributions (with interest) to your designated beneficiaries, or, if you have no designated beneficiaries, to your estate, PLUS
  • A monthly allowance to your spouse equal to fifty percent (50%) of an ordinary disability retirement allowance.
  • Vested Benefits: 25 years of service or age 50
  • Retirement:
    • 2% x Average Final Compensation x Years of service = Annual Basic Allowance
      • Example: Age 50 with 25 year of service earning $75,000 year
      • 2.0% X $75,000 X 25 = $37,500
      • $37,500 / 12 = $3,125 month
  • DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Program) Eligibility at retirement. Employee stops contributing to retirement (7%) and the money instead goes to an interest-bearing account

In the above example, an officer under the current system would have to work about 8 years longer before they could retire, and they would earn less money … Officers would also be ineligible to draw from their vested retirement until they were 65 … that’s 15 years longer than LEOPS who can start at age 50. ***

LEOPS is not perfect and would require a “buy in” for the Town of Oxford in order for the police force to gain the benefit. The town is investigating what the cost would be with a study. The study itself costs $7500.00 regardless of the size of the police force in a jurisdiction. It’s unclear how long it will take to do the study since small town forces like Oxford tend to get little to no attention from the state retirement system.

Another challenge is the paperwork. Maryland is not a “police friendly” state and adds more paperwork to police officers each year, particularly police Chiefs. Phillips has to record various stats about the work of the force in town, and this takes hours away from being on patrol. The mandatory reporting/meetings required by the state only seem to be getting more demanding for agencies. This disproportionately hurts smaller agencies who don’t have the staff to share the burden of the requirements. Regardless, the Chief says that in a 6-day period, he is on the job 5 of those days. This is due to shift work. Weekly hours can change but the total remains the same. Phillips says he also frequently works weekends/evenings.

Phillips is investigating getting help to aid with office duties such as answering the phone or other office duties. Currently, calls to the police are routed through the 911 center and if they are found to be severe enough will be sent to the current policeman on duty. However, nuisance calls such as dog complaints etc. tend to clutter up the system and could take up time for more important duties.

Phillips disputes comments by some in town that they are “not seeing the police patrolling as much. ” He said they do constant patrols of town and says “We are doing the best we can with what we have. Having a consistent way to hire and retain staff, which LEOPS will assist with, can help minimize the amount of down time the town spends short staffed. To be fair, staffing in law enforcement has been a national issue for a while. We don’t want to be the agency that can’t compete with the bigger agencies, or we will continue to have a difficult time effectively replacing officers This was also a major emphasis for Chief Maxwell prior to his retirement. I have also talked with numerous police department heads in the area who will confirm that this is one of the biggest issues Oxford faces in hiring.”

While Phillips wouldn’t disclose when patrol checks occur, he felt comfortable in saying the town is safe, “Every day we are working we are conducting numerous patrol checks/scanning the town. For obvious security purposes, the times we are driving around town won’t be the same.” In fact, in informal discussions with other nearby towns, he found that that Oxford PD seems to be pulling over more cars and giving more tickets per capita than other larger communities who have many more personnel.

” We all need to work together as a community,” Phillips said. “My office door is always open to anyone who has questions. I care about Oxford and want to do the best job I can for the town and its citizens.”

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