Common Cause: Huff Call To Police Chief Possibly Unethical

A phone call from Councilman Todd Huff to Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson should be reviewed by the Baltimore County Ethics Commission, according to one government watchdog group.

The call, made by Huff following his arrest for driving under the influence raises questions about whether or not the councilman attempted to use his office in order to get out of trouble.

"You want to make sure when a case like this occurs that there is an appropriate response so other people don't think 'Here is my way out, too,'" said Jennifer Bevan-Dangle, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

County ethics laws prohibits public officials from using the prestige of their office for personal benefit.

Huff made the call to Johnson following his Feb. arrest for drunken driving. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to one count of drunken driving. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday morning in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

During the traffic stop, Huff asked police: "Don't you know who I am? You stopped me on my own property."

Later, Huff asked officers if they "really need to be doing this." He later told an officer she should "take me home and be done with this," according to a statement of charges filed after the arrest.

Huff also told the officer that he would call the police chief, according to the charges.

"This is not a situation where the average person would have the chief of police's cell phone number and could call and ask for help when they're being arrested," Bevan-Dangle said. "So we think it clearly violated the law."

Johnson did not answer the call but Bevan-Dangle said the fact that the call was made is concerning.

Huff did not respond to messages left by a reporter seeking comment.

In court, Huff offered Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Martin an explanation for the call.

"The phone call to the chief was to apologize to the chief," Huff said during the April 18 hearing. "I was not asking for any way, shape or form a favor."

Martin, speaking in court, said he was not concerned with the call as much as he was the comments made to police officers during the arrest.

Martin said Huff's statement "Don't you know who I am?" represents an arrogance on the councilman's part that the judge said "isn't pretty."