Judicial Proceedings Committee prospective legislation for 2021
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.
