Police chief announces retirement as probe drags on

Investigation of alleged burglary yields no results to date, at least none that have been shared with the OPA

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Ocean Pines Police Chief Leo Ehrisman has retired, according to an announcement by General Manager John Viola released on June 6.

“Chief Leo Ehrisman gave notice of his retirement today. We thank him for his years of service to Ocean Pines and wish him well. A search to find his replacement is commencing immediately,” Viola said.

The statement offered no update on the status of a slow-roll investigation that began at the end of January into an alleged burglary at the police department evidence storage shed. Ehrisman was placed on paid administrative leave at the same time the investigation was announced, suggesting that he possessed some relevant infomration.

The investigation has been conducted by the Worcester County Sheriff’s department.

Viola told the Progress that he had nothing to share about the investigation after announcing Eh- risman’s retirement.

But he confirmed that the former chief, who was promoted to the position of Ocean Pines top cop in August of 2020, would receive all the retirement benefits to which he was entitled as an Ocean Pines police department employee, whose tenure dated back to 1986.

Those benefits include a 401(k) benefit plan, sparse in comparison to a new, more generous benefit package that the Board of Directors approved earlier this year for Ocean Pines police officers in a concerted effort to attract and retain police officers, whose ranks have been depleted because other local police departments had been offering better compensation packages.

Ehrisman apparently won’t benefit at all from this new package, but he hasn’t been in any way financially penalized by the OPA for any events related to his placement of paid administrative leave this past January.

Ehrisman

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Viola directed any inquiries to the status of the investigation to State’s Attorney Kris Heiser or Sheriff Matt Crisafulli. No status update was offered by these two officials.

]What is known is a time lag between when the alleged burglary was first discovered -- according to the press release that occurred on Dec. 17 of last year, but by whom was not disclosed -- and when General Manager John Viola first became aware of it. That was Friday, Dec. 31.

Ehrisman was placed on paid administrative leave the following day, after Viola had conversations with Heiser and and Crisafulli.

Ehrisman became police chief in August of 2020 on the retirement of former chief David Massey. He was hired as a patrol officer in 1986 by then Chief of Police Rod Murray.

He was the first person to have risen through the ranks to become Ocean Pines’ top cop. According to an OPA press release at the time of his appointment, Ehrisman’s first job with the OPPD was part-time dispatcher.