Mystery as Maryland town suspends its ENTIRE police force - as 'blindsided' residents demand to know why

Residents of a small town in Maryland are demanding ‘the truth’ after all six of their police officers were ordered to step aside pending an investigation by the state prosecutor.

The people of Ridgely learned in a terse two-line announcement on the town’s website that its three commissioners have ‘suspended with pay the entirety of the Ridgely Police Department effectively (sic) immediately’.

The commissioners have been accused of treating its 1,600 citizens as children and leaving crime victims relying on officers from the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office to reach them in time.

‘What’s very concerning is that they didn’t communicate with us in an honest and open way,’ said Laura Cline, a longtime resident of the town.

‘Treat us with respect. We’re adults; thinking, rational adults who deserve the truth.’

The officers of the Ridgely Police Department, with current chief Jeff Eckrich second left, in a photo from October 2023

Policing in the town of 1,600 will now be covered by the wider Caroline County Sheriff's Office 

Ridgely's three commissioners Anthony Casey, Leonard Buckle and John Hurley 

The sleepy town just two miles from the Delaware border is best known for its annual winter festival, which draws thousands of visitors.

The entire county has recorded just four homicides since 2000 and the drastic measure has left residents perplexed as to what their well-known officers could possibly have done wrong.

‘It doesn’t add up,’ said Gennie Woo who has owned a downtown business for more than 40 years. ‘Everybody is skeptical about what happened. We just want to know how and why.’

But the town has not escaped the controversies that have swept police departments nationwide in recent years and the town had to pay its share of a $5million settlement to the family of Anton Black who died in police custody in 2018.

The 19-year-old died while being restrained by police outside his home in neighboring Greensboro, one of whom was Ridgely’s then police chief Gary Manos who intervened after spotting the incident while off-duty.

Maryland lawmakers passed a package of police accountability measures in 2021 that included a bill in Black’s memory to expand public access to police disciplinary records because of questions surrounding past misconduct allegations against an officer involved in his death.

An officer hired last year in Ridgely had faced misconduct allegations in Delaware before joining the department, court records show.

That officer resigned in January. Another Ridgely officer was hired despite having an arrest record in Delaware.

The town’s current chief, Jeff Eckrich, spent most of his career at the Prince George’s County Police Department in the suburbs of DC, including 12 years as a homicide detective, before joining the department in Ridgely.

The Office of State Prosecutor, which is investigating the suspended six officers, usually pursues cases of public misconduct, election fraud, and ethics law violations.

‘The Commissioners are currently developing a temporary agreement with the Caroline County Sheriff’s Department to guarantee uninterrupted public safety services for the citizens of Town of Ridgely,’ the statement on the town website concludes.

The town is best known for its annual winter festival which attracts thousands of visitors 

Violent crime in the town peaked in 2010 with 41 recorded incidents 

The town near the Delaware border will now be policed by officers of the wider Caroline County where just four homicides have ben recorded since 2000

The commissioners have refused to answer questions from the public leaving residents perplexed and angry.

Holly Justice who owns a spa just across the road from the police headquarters said she often used to say hello to them.

‘We were blindsided,’ she added.

‘It makes you question the integrity of people who are supposed to protect and serve.

‘Like I knew those guys. It just makes you wonder.’

Dailymail.com has reached out to the town commissioners.