June 4, 2020
Dear Friend,
When I became Chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee I promised to use my time in this position to advocate for the marginalized and to do what I could to create a more equitable criminal justice system. While I am proud of what we accomplished during the truncated 2020 legislative session, I have never been more keenly aware of how much more work remains and the fierce urgency with which that work must be accomplished. While this sentiment applies to a multitude of different issues ranging from how our state treats our immigrant brothers and sisters to accountability within the ranks of our law enforcement, this letter will address policing reform.
Our system is broken and we cannot continue to do what we’ve been doing. Although we have made progress in recent years, it is far past time for us to reflect upon why it has taken the murder of yet another precious black soul in 2020 to muster the political will to push for meaningful reform. As an elected official I certainly share in that responsibility. From my district in Montgomery County, MD to Minneapolis, MN, instances of abuse have gone unchecked and the lack of meaningful transparency has perpetuated the already tenuous relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. The problems that plague this relationship are well documented. So too are many of the solutions. In other words, we possess all the requisite data points and information we need to make progress. What we have lacked is the political will to go far enough.
The silver lining in all of this is that we have the power to seize this moment to do what our parents and grandparents did for us – to do the hard work of creating a society more loving, more welcoming, and more accountable to us all. For those of us in elected office perhaps this moment in history will prove instructive for how the unattended injustices of today will translate into the crises our children will have to contend with tomorrow.
I understand lofty rhetoric and political talk is cheap. That’s why I’m putting this into writing and asking for your support and input as we prepare for the next legislative session. I have requested legislation to be drafted addressing the following police reforms:
Disclosure of Officer Personnel Records:
- Provide that a complaint, investigation record, hearing record, and disciplinary actions are not personnel records and are subject to the Maryland Public Information Act when the complaint, record, or action relates to the discharge of a firearm, use of deadly force, or for an investigation for sexual assault, dishonesty, discrimination, or improper use of force
- Enable non-law enforcement public officials to participate in review and disclosure of past complaints
- Require law enforcement agencies to submit annual reports to the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission (MPTSC) on use of force complaints. Require MPTSC to report this data to the Maryland General Assembly
Use of Force:
- Ban chokeholds and strangleholds, require de-escalation, require warning before shooting, exhaust all other means before shooting, create a duty to intervene and stop excessive force by other officers, ban shooting at moving vehicles, require use-of-force continuum; and, require comprehensive reporting each time an officer uses forces or threatens to use excessive force
Training:
- Require MPTSC to establish implicit bias training requirements and best practices, including shoot/don’t shoot decision making
- Require MPTSC to establish de-escalation and minimized use-of-force best practices
- Require MPTSC to develop a protocol for utilization of implicit bias data in the hiring process, LEO certification, and performance evaluations
Demilitarization of Police Forces:
- Prohibit local law enforcement agencies from entering into 1033 Program purchasing agreements
- Further expand use of SWAT team reporting
Excessive Force Bystander Intervention:
- Require local departments to adopt policies requiring officers to intervene whenever they witness another officer using excessive force
Independent Investigator for Police Violence / Special Prosecutor for Police Violence:
- Establish an official in the Office of the Attorney General authorized to prosecute all cases in which the police kill or seriously injure a civilian, in-custody deaths and cases where a civilian alleges criminal misconduct against a police officer
Adjust Liability Caps for Acts of Police Violence:
- Prohibit liability for acts of police violence from being subject to a municipalities’ liability cap, encouraging police departments to avoid actions that will increase government insurance premiums
Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBR):
- Amend LEOBR to repeal the requirement that an investigation or interrogation of a law enforcement officer be done by a sworn law enforcement officer or the Attorney General’s office; and eliminate the five-day waiting period before an officer involved in underlying incident can be interviewed.
Copies of these proposals will be publicly available as soon as the preliminary drafts are complete. The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will hold public bill hearings on these bills in the Fall to address these proposals in advance of the legislative session. In the interim I want to hear from as many individuals and groups as possible. If you have an idea of how we can move our state forward on policing reform my door is always open.
Sincerely,
William C. Smith, Jr.
Chairman, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee