Police & Criminal Justice Reform
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a police officer in an overzealous, militant police system, states across the nation are seeking to reform their criminal justice systems, and I believe Maryland should follow suit.
Since my start in office, I’ve been at the forefront of eliminating systemic racism in Maryland, through improving voting rights, educational equity, and criminal justice reforms. The General Assembly has finally delivered on long-awaited legislation to protect communities of color. Most notably, we passed a sweeping police reform package, including the Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021, which:
- Makes Maryland the first State in the U.S. to fully repeal the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights, which gave unfair privileges to officers accused of misconduct;
- Enhances the civilian oversight over police misconduct cases, including improved infrastructure for listening to civilian complaints; provides transparency in police records to the public;
- Greatly restricts the situations in which a no-knock warrant can be used;
- Creates a Use of Force Law, based on legislation I have introduced for several years, that requires police officers to only use force when it is absolutely necessary; and
- Mandates body-worn cameras for all on-duty officers in the State by 2025.
With my advice, the Speaker of the House also developed a “Black Agenda” during the 2021 Session, to reinforce racial equity as a priority of the State. We passed various other miscellaneous bills that reaffirm our commitment to actively helping our communities of color, including increasing compensation for Marylanders who are wrongly convicted and incarcerated and imposing a ban on all private immigration prisons in Maryland.
In 2020, I was also appointed by our County Executive to serve as co-chair of the Prince George’s County Police Reform Work Group. We delivered over 50 recommendations to improve relations between the community and law enforcement, reduce police violence, increase transparency, and much more.