Understand what's happening now, in Maryland.
STEP 1: Read the Letter
"June 16, 2020
The past three weeks have exposed what some of us have known for years: that enforcement of our laws has not yielded equal justice for all Marylanders. Policing in our country is broken. While we have taken some important steps together with you – most notably passage of the Justice Reinvestment Act – we have not done enough to fix policing in Maryland.
As a result of House Bill 954 of 2015 and House Bill 1016 of 2016, the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission issued best practices, protocols, standards and data collection requirements to all law enforcement agencies in the State of Maryland to follow for use of force. But we need to do more.
We ask that you immediately sign an Executive Order for all State-controlled law enforcement agencies to require some of these best practices recommended by your Police Training and Standards Commission. You have under your immediate jurisdiction more than 18 law enforcement agencies (including higher education policing agencies) that can start saving lives right now. Specifically, we ask that you:
Require that deadly force is only used to “stop an imminent threat of death or seriously bodily injury to the officer” or a citizen; (1)
Require a duty to intervene for those police officers who see another officer “using force beyond what is objectively reasonable under the circumstances;”
Implement an early warning system to identify excessive incidents involving use of force and immediately re-train that officer; https://mdle.net/pdf/UOF_Best_Practices.pdf
Ban shooting at vehicles, unless the vehicle is clearly being used for deadly force against an officer or another person; and
Require that every officer within a State law enforcement agency sign an affirmative written sanctity of life pledge to “respect every human life” and “act with compassion toward others,” as recommended by MPTSC.
In addition, we ask that you immediately ban the use of chokeholds for any State law enforcement officer.
Finally, we ask that MPTSC report to the Maryland General Assembly by July 10, 2020 which police departments in the State:
are not reporting use of force data;
have implemented a use of force policy;
are requiring de-escalation, use of less lethal force and implicit bias training.
As you know, the House has convened a legislative workgroup with the full intent of mandating these things in the 2021 legislative session, in addition to other legal requirements to begin to undo the systemic inequality that our justice system continues to hand out every day. However, you have the power with the stroke of your pen to begin this process today.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Speaker Adrienne A. Jones Vice Chairman Vanessa Atterbeary
Caucus Chair Jazz Lewis Chairman Luke Clippinger Majority Leader Eric Luedtke Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes
Majority Whip Talmadge Branch
Chairman Maggie McIntosh
Chairman Dereck E. Davis
Chairman Kumar Barve
Chairman Shane Pendergrass
Chairman Anne Healey
Chairman Anne Kaiser
Chairman Kathleen Dumais Vice Chairman Michael Jackson Vice Chairman Dana Stein Vice Chairman Joseline Peña-Melnyk Vice
Chairman Marvin Holmes, Jr. Vice
Chairman Alonzo Washington
Caucus Vice Chair Courtney Watson
Delegate Brook Lierman Delegate Julian Ivey Delegate Lorig Charkoudian
Delegate Samuel Rosenberg Delegate Vaughn Stewart Delegate Erek Barron Delegate Lesley Lopez Delegate Lily Qi Delegate Carol Krimm
Delegate Diana Fennell
Delegate Kirill Reznik
Delegate Emily Shetty
Delegate Andrea Harrison
Delegate Al Carr Delegate Kris Valderrama
Delegate Ariana Kelly
Delegate Karen Lewis Young
Delegate David Moon
Delegate Jared Solomon
Delegate Debra Davis
Delegate Carl Jackson
Delegate Veronica Turner
Delegate Lisa Belcastro
Delegate Sheila Ruth
Delegate Sara Love Delegate Bonnie Cullison
Delegate Marc Korman
Delegate Jared Solomon
Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield
Delegate Eric Ebersole
Delegate Edith Patterson Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr
Delegate Ron Watson Delegate Mark Chang Delegate Mary Lehman Delegate Tony Bridges Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith
Delegate Pam Queen Delegate Jon Cardin Delegate Darryl Barnes Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins
Delegate Sandy Bartlett Delegate Nick Mosby Delegate Jim Gilchrist Delegate Wanika Fisher Delegate Ken Kerr Delegate Nicole Williams Delegate Heather Bagnall Delegate Dalya Attar Delegate Michele Guyton Delegate Steve Johnson Delegate Benjamin Brooks Delegate Ned Carey Jessica Feldmark Delegate Terri Hill Delegate Ben Barnes Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Jen Terrasa Delegate C.T. Wilson
Delegate Melissa Wells
Delegate Robbyn Lewis
Delegate Mike Rogers
Delegate Curt Anderson
Delegate Harry Bhandari
Delegate Nick Charles
Delegate Dana Jones
Delegate Pat Young
Delegate Cathi Forbes
Delegate Keith Haynes
Delegate Frank Conaway
Delegate Chanel Branch
Delegate Brian Crosby
Delegate Jay Walker
Delegate Regina Boyce
Delegate Stephanie Smith
Delegate Shaneka Henson
Delegate Gabriel Acevero Delegate Susie Proctor
Delegate Mary Ann Lisant
Delegate Jay Jalisi
(1) Quotes are directly from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission Protocols and Standards for Use of Force and Use of Force Training Concepts and Best Practices."
STEP 2: If your representative's name is not on the letter, ask them why?
Maryland General Assembly: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/District