Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh is suing a local sheriff who he says blocked his office from investigating a police-involved shooting death, in violation of a state law ushered in among a sweeping wave of reforms last year.

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       Frosh (D) filed the complaint Monday against Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler after the county sheriff’s department refused to allow the state’s Independent Investigations Division to collect evidence in the April 23 police-custody death of a 53-year-old man.

       “This interference with an independent investigation is in violation of the law,” Frosh said in a statement. “The people of Maryland deserve better, and we will fight to see that they get it.”

       Frosh is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order against Gahler, who has for months contested Frosh’s authority under the new law and on Monday accused him of launching a “politically motivated attack.”

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       According to the complaint, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office has refused to cooperate with the Independent Investigations Division, an agency Maryland lawmakers voted to establish last year amid a broader effort to bolster accountability and transparency in policing in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the national outcry for police reform. The sweeping legislation set new rules on when police may use force and how they are investigated and disciplined.

       The state investigatory division was called after 53-year-old Raymond Fauver died in an encounter with deputies but was not permitted to gather evidence, according to the complaint. There have been 15 police-involved deaths since October, according to the attorney general’s office. Two have occurred in the past two days, including one that happened on the Eastern Shore on Monday.

       According to a Harford County sheriff’s release, deputies were dispatched to a call about someone who was suicidal who “was believed to have a long gun.” The man, who was later identified as Fauver was found behind a CVS in Forest Hill. “The interaction concluded with the Deputies’ discharging their firearms,” the release says.

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       Fauver’s death is the first use-of-force death in Harford County since the legislation took effect nearly seven months ago.

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       Sen. William C. Smith (D-Montgomery), who sponsored the bill creating the independent investigation, said Monday that it was “tremendously frustrating” to see the head of a law enforcement agency refuse to cooperate with the state’s top law enforcement officer, as required under the law.

       “The intent of the law is crystal clear,” Smith said. “There appears to be an intentional malfeasance to not adhere to the law.”

       Gahler has been fighting against the law, which took effect in October, since the idea was proposed last year. He has sent numerous letters to Frosh’s office in the past year arguing he has a “constitutional obligation” to investigate any crimes that occur in Harford County, “regardless of who may have committed those crimes.”

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       “I’m very disappointed that Mr. Frosh has decided to take a tragedy like what occurred here in Harford County and try to make a political statement or turn it into some political fodder,” Gahler said Monday in a phone interview.

       Gahler has been in a battle over the past year over the new law, arguing that Frosh has overstepped his authority under the legislation.

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       In a November letter to Frosh, Gahler indicated that he “will not stand down,” will not “cede [his] own responsibility to investigate,” and will instead “continue with [his] investigation.” An attorney for Gahler sent a letter to Frosh in December to reiterate that the sheriff “will not follow the protocols issued by” the Independent Investigations Division.

       Raquel Coombs, a spokeswoman for Frosh, who is retiring in January, said the newly created division is “simply … attempting to perform its statutory duty to conduct an independent and transparent investigation.”

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       The ACLU of Maryland said the deputies’ response to an allegedly suicidal person underscored the need for police reform.

       “Calling 911 for help with someone who is described as suicidal should not lead to police killing the person … We do not know the details of what happened here, but the community needs transparency,” David Rocah, senior staff attorney for ACLU of Maryland, said in a statement.

       A hearing will be held Thursday morning in Harford County Circuit Court, a spokeswoman for Frosh said.