Police activity at Cambridge Mayor Bradshaw’s home, office

Mayor Bradshaw’s full statement at Aug. 9 meeting

By Dave Ryan
Posted 8/4/21

CAMBRIDGE — The city has been abuzz as citizens discuss police activity on Wednesday at the home of Mayor Andrew Bradshaw. Details, however, are scarce, as officials remain tight-lipped on the …

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Police activity at Cambridge Mayor Bradshaw’s home, office

Mayor Bradshaw’s full statement at Aug. 9 meeting

Posted

CAMBRIDGE — The city has been abuzz as citizens discuss police activity on Aug. 4 at the home of Mayor Andrew Bradshaw. Details, however, are scarce, as officials remain tight-lipped on the incidents.

On Friday afternoon, the Banner received a statement from Assistant City Attorney Patrick Thomas, who wrote, “We can confirm that a search and seizure warrant was executed at the Mayor’s office in City Hall on the morning of Aug. 4 in connection with an ongoing investigation by the Maryland State Police and the Office of the State Prosecutor. The City intends to cooperate fully with the investigation.”
“We were advised of the situation after the actions that took place on the morning of Aug. 4,” Cambridge Police Department Capt. Justin Todd said the evening of the raids. “We do not have any further details at this time.”

A request for information from the Maryland State Police resulted in the following statement on Thursday afternoon from Spokesman Greg Shipley:
“Members of the Maryland State Police were in Cambridge yesterday,” Mr. Shipley wrote. “They were there at the request of and assisting members of the Office of the State Prosecutor.”
Mr. Shipley asked a reporter from the Banner to direct further questions to the Office of the State Prosecutor.
Deputy State Prosecutor Sarah David responded to the Banner, saying only that her office’s policy is not to confirm or deny information related to investigations.

As word spread about the searches, questions and frustrations mounted among citizens. In a response on the Banner’s Facebook pages, Michelle Plummer wrote, “Regardless who the mayor is, citizens have the right to know what is going on. The silence is weird.”

The silence lifted a bit on Friday afternoon, when City Manager Patrick Comiskey spoke at City Hall. Mr. Comiskey had told the City Council in early July that he would not seek renewal of his contract, which expired July 31.
But he did agree to stay on until a replacement is named, probably in September, he said.
Mr. Comiskey first learned of the warrant to search Mayor Bradshaw’s office around 6 a.m. on Wednesday. He went immediately to City Hall, where he saw several law enforcement officers.

“They went into the mayor’s office,” Mr. Comiskey said. “That’s the only place they went.”
They stayed about 45 minutes, he said, adding, “They were taking pictures.”
“The city isn’t being investigated,” Mr. Comiskey said. “The police department isn’t being investigated.”
While that group was at City Hall, another was at the mayor’s home in the West End. Neighbors have reported several uniformed and plain-clothes officers, who stayed from about 6:30 a.m. until shortly after 9 a.m.

As of Friday evening, no charges had been filed, leaving city employees as much in the dark as anyone. “We don’t know what’s going on,” Mr. Comiskey said.
As for Mayor Bradshaw’s future, Mr. Comiskey said elected officials are not technically city employees, so they do not necessarily follow the same protocols during situations such as this. And with no charges at this point, he doesn’t see any immediate changes in city leadership.

“I can’t realistically see why the mayor would step down,” Mr. Comiskey said. “We don’t even know if a crime has been committed.”
At Monday’s meeting of the Cambridge City Council, Mayor Bradshaw made a brief statement as the session concluded, reading from prepared remarks. The full text follows:

“All I can say right now is that it was a personal matter. It does not involve city business. I am still the mayor of Cambridge. I work very hard for the people of Cambridge and I anticipate continuing to work very hard for the people of Cambridge. I love this city, and I love the changes that we’ve been able to make, and I love the direction that we’re going, and I anticipate that continuing forward. Thank you.”

This story will be updated as information becomes available. The mayor’s statement occurred after this week’s print edition of the Banner had already gone to press.

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