By Avéon Laine
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Law enforcement officials and some citizens said the police reform legislation adopted by the Baltimore County Council Monday night is a meaningful step in the right direction, but some said more needs to be done.
Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt commended the council for its action and said the police will continue providing the best service possible under the new law.
“The public can expect to continue to receive the same high level of professionalism and excellence that it has been providing prior to the enactment of this statute,” Hyatt said.
Sgt. Vickie Warehime, director of public affairs for county police, said the statute is a sign of forward progression for the department.
“The Baltimore County Police Department continues to protect and serve the citizens in the most professional way,” she said. “We look forward to evolving and progressing as an agency and county to better serve our residents.”
The council passed legislation Monday night that prohibits police from using chokeholds and imposes new oversight requirements on the police department.
The legislative package, introduced by Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and County Councilman Julian Jones, D-4th District, will limit the department’s use of excessive force, provide whistleblower protection to officers who report use of excessive force, and urge officers to intervene if they witness use of excessive force.
Under the bill, police will be required to aid anyone in custody who is injured or complains of an injury, which includes calling for medical assistance. Officers will be prohibited from using chokeholds unless it’s in defense against death or serious bodily injury.
In a statement after the vote, Olszewski said that the “county has taken a critical and united next step toward equal justice.”
“The new policing act will make our police department and our county better for everyone,” Olszewski said.
The department will also be prohibited from hiring officers from other jurisdictions if those officers have been fired or have resigned due to disciplinary concerns, but the police chief still can approve the hiring decision.
Additionally, officers will undergo further annual training centered around de-escalation techniques, bias and use of force.
John Nesky, Bowie police chief and president of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, said the Baltimore County legislation reflects the common goals among police statewide and citizens.
“At the end of the day, we all want the same thing,” Nesky told The Baltimore Watchdog.
“We want accountability, we want transparency, we want the trust of the community.”
County officials said the new legislation is “the latest effort from Baltimore County to improve accountability and strengthen relations between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.”
According to the Baltimore County police data dashboard, there have been 438 complaints filed since the start of 2017, 136 of those alleging the use of unnecessary force. These complaints come from both department administration and county citizens.
The Towson University campus organization Brotherhood, which focuses on the uplifting and development of young, African American men on campus, said they are happy about the progress being made, but will be watching diligently to see the police department’s next steps.
“As an organization, we are happy to see some progress actually being made,” said Trevin Walker, the public relations chair for the organization. “However, this is only the beginning of addressing a much larger issue, and we will be observing, suggesting, and demanding that further steps are taken to maximize safety, real non-performative accountability, and eventually eliminate police brutality as a whole.”
Towson resident Sally Diokane, who has experienced police discrimination in the past, says that this legislation is long overdue.
“This is something that should’ve been banned a while ago, especially with everything that’s been happening in the country as it relates to police and excessive force,” Diokane said. “I am happy that this is finally being implemented though.”
Parkville resident Myles Pollard, who has experienced excessive use of police force during this summer’s protests, said there is more work to be done.
“This is just a small step of what police need to do,” Pollard said. “Too many times you hear on the news about police and their use of force, especially in the city and the county. I’m hoping there’s more to come where this issue is concerned.”
According to the county’s website, the legislative package, called the Strengthening Modernization, Accountability, Reform, and Transparency Policing Act, was first
introduced by Olszewski and Jones in September.
The county also reported that the legislation requires the creation of an intervention system to identify officers at risk of misconduct. Additionally, the department must collect, analyze and release information about all police incidents involving shootings or deaths.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Jones told the council last week he wanted to add four amendments, including clarity on chokehold exceptions, whistleblower protections and civilians being appointed as voting members on the police department’s disciplinary hearing boards.
However, Jones removed three of those amendments before Monday’s vote, calling their removal, “a hard pill to swallow.”
The Baltimore Sun also reported that the removal came from further whistleblower protections already being included in Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights, and state laws that encourage both nonvoting and voting members to be on the police’s disciplinary hearing boards.
The remaining amendment, passed unanimously by the council, requires the police chief to submit a use of force report to the council by April 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, and to publicly present the report before the council.
The bill follows reform measures that Olszewski and Hyatt introduced in June during a string of national protests in response to the death of George Floyd, while a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck to restrain him. Some of these measures included officers reporting the use of unnecessary force, creating a public database on police complaints and traffic stops, and hiring outside parties to analyze police recruitment.
Olszewski stated that this is not the end where police reform is concerned, but rather, “another important step towards a more just and equitable future.”
The legislation is set to go into effect on Oct. 19.