One year after lawmakers passed sweeping police reform bills in Maryland, attempts to fine-tune those reforms have largely withered this General Assembly session.
Lawmakers have revisited some of these policies, but not without charged debate.
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) introduced legislation to allow the Independent Investigations Division in the Office of the Attorney General to prosecute police involved in civilian deaths if the local state’s attorney chooses not to do so.
“This bill is a product [that] goes against the considered wisdom of every law enforcement official elected or appointed in this state,” Sen. Robert G. Cassilly (R-Harford) said during a debate on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.
Senate Bill 896 would build on a law enacted as part of a package of legislation called the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021. One of those measures requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate deadly police interactions.
Under the current law established last year, the Attorney General’s investigative division has 15 days after completing an investigation to provide a report to the local state’s attorney.
Smith’s bill would give the state’s attorney 45 days to decide if they will prosecute the officer. If they elect not to, the Attorney General would be able to prosecute.
Smith said the bill is an opportunity for an objective look, case-by-case, at police killings, apart from the local prosecutors and law enforcement who often work together closely.
Read more at Maryland Matters.
Photo: A year after passing sweeping police reform bills, lawmakers have been reluctant to act on further reforms this session. Photo by Chalabala / stock.adobe.com.
