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REPORTED

IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 2744 September Term, 1999

TOWN OF CHEVERLY POLICE DEPARTMENT, et al.

v.

DEREK LEOCADIO DAY

Moylan, Hollander, Sonner,

JJ.

OPINION BY MOYLAN, J.

Filed: November 29, 2000

-2-

The appellant, the Town of Cheverly Police Department ("the Cheverly Department"), challenges an Order issued by Judge C. Philip Nichols, Jr., in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County regarding the entitlement of the appellee, Derek L. Day ("Day"), to benefits under the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights ("LEOBOR"). The Department presents numerous issues on All of those issues, however, boil down That is:

appeal for our review.

to one very basic issue now before us.

Did Judge Nichols err in finding that Day, as a police officer, was entitled to the various rights and protections afforded under the LEOBOR? Factual and Procedural Background For approximately nineteen years, Day was employed as a law enforcement officer by the University of Maryland at Baltimore Police Department ("UMPD"). In the spring of 1999, he applied As his

for a position as an officer with the Cheverly Department. part of the application process, Day verified that, to

knowledge, at the time of his application, no investigation was pending from his former employer. Sergeant Michele Carlson, who

was assigned by the Department to conduct a background check of Day, found the check to be satisfactory and aided him in

-2obtaining a required certification card1 issued by the Maryland Police Training Commission ("MPTC"). Day still possessed a certification card from the UMPD, as he had not yet officially resigned from his position there.2 The

delay in Day's resignation from the UMPD was due to the fact that during his a nineteen years of employment of his unused there, sick he had

accumulated Accordingly,

significant after

amount

leave. the

even

beginning

employment

with

Cheverly Department, Day was still receiving sick leave pay from the UMPD. Day informed the Cheverly Department of his

situation, and on July 2, 1999, he officially resigned from the UMPD when his sick leave was exhausted. Sometime during the period between Day's application for employment with the Department (i.e., April of 1999) and his resignation from the UMPD (i.e., July of 1999), Day was informed that he was under investigation by the UMPD and that he could be facing possible criminal charges for collecting sick leave pay. Based on that information, the Cheverly Department returned

COMAR 12.04.01.06, entitled "Police Officer Certification," provides that "[t]he Commission shall issue a certification card to an eligible police officer indicating that the officer is certified by the Commission. ... Possession of the certification card indicates the authority to enforce the general criminal laws of Maryland."

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