Police Reform Work Group Recommendations
Dear Neighbors,
It is an honor and privilege to serve as a Co-Chair of the Prince George’s County Police Reform Task Force at the request of County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. The Task Force was created at the heels of this nation’s most historic social uprising sparked by the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, killed by the Minneapolis police; and months after the murder of William Green, an unarmed Black man, who was killed by a Prince George’s County Police Officer this January. These horrific incidents and what has proven to be all too often a toxic police culture are happening here in our community.
As someone who grew up in Prince George’s County, the issues plaguing the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) are very personal to me. I have seen firsthand the abuse of power from the officers who are sworn to protect and serve the community. I graduated from Prince George’s County Public Schools, and have also witnessed the school-to-prison pipeline and its disastrous implications for the young people in our community. As Co-Chair of the Task Force, I worked diligently to ensure the final report would yield meaningful recommendations that if implemented would create a more professional police force that better serves our community – our residents cannot afford to wait any longer.
The charge of the Task Force was to develop comprehensive recommendations to address every area of policing in Prince George’s County. In order to carry this out effectively, the Task Force was broken down into five subcommittees, each responsible for their own unique policy area. The subcommittees and full task force met weekly, received various presentations from the Department, expert testimony, and public input. These meetings culminated in each subcommittee creating their own set of recommendations. At the conclusion of our efforts, the full Task Force met as a full body to vote and approve these recommendations for the final report.
The Task Force quickly realized through presentations from the Department that PGPD was facing many dire challenges and issues that have far too long gone unaddressed. Regrettably, we made several requests for different data sets on a variety of topics that went unanswered. Proper procedures to effectively evaluate police officers have not been implemented, which has resulted in the continued deployment of officers unfit for duty. The current internal investigations process is wrought with conflicts of interest and an unclear overlap of responsibilities. PGPD has even failed to retain its accreditation for the last several years, which it blames on reporting standards that are too strict. Ultimately, these issues demonstrate the myriad of ways PGPD is failing – both its own officers and the community they are sworn to protect and serve. By failing to take every action necessary to ensure the support of the community, we are also doing a disservice to the many officers who truly serve our residents and perform a critical and often difficult role.
Over the course of nearly six months, the Task Force worked to produce robust, comprehensive recommendations that if implemented, will fundamentally change public safety and policing in Prince George’s County. We aligned our proposals closely with what the community has been calling for, such as a new Office of Integrity and Compliance that will increase oversight and drastically reduce conflicts of interest. We included additional strict training standards to include Use of Force, anti-discrimination, and anti-racial bias instruction. We also included recommendations on School Resource Officers, comprehensive community engagement, data reporting standards, and several other meaningful and far reaching proposals.
I want to give my gratitude to the residents of Prince George’s County. Without tireless advocacy from community members over the years, this Task Force would not exist. It is my hope that our recommendations are fully implemented, and that they help create the meaningful change our community deserves.
Click the link below to view the final report from the Prince George’s County Police Reform Task Force.
