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Police Accountability Board
Overview
In the wake of incidents across the country of misconduct and criminal acts involving police officers, particularly those that resulted in serious injury or death of a citizen, the Maryland General Assembly enacted substantial legislation focused on police reform during the 2021 legislative session.
House Bill 670, the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 – Police Discipline and Law Enforcement Programs and Procedures, effective July 1, 2022, requires that each county governing body establish a Police Accountability Board. After a robust public process, Frederick County adopted its Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee legislation on April 26, 2022.
Frederick County Police Accountability Board has the following duties:
- Hold quarterly meetings, and additional meetings, if necessary, with heads of law enforcement agencies and otherwise work with law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction in the county and with Frederick County Government to improve matters of policing.
- Appoint civilian members to Charging Committees and trial boards.
- Receive complaints of police misconduct filed by members of the public.
- On a quarterly basis, review outcomes of disciplinary matters considered by Charging Committees; and
- On or before December 31 each year, submit a report to the County Executive and the County Council, and each municipality located within Frederick County that maintains a police agency. The report:
(a) Identifies any trends in the disciplinary process of police officers in the County; and
(b) Makes recommendations on changes to policy, training, or supervision that would improve police accountability in the County.
Members Expectations and Terms
To the maximum extent practicable, the membership of the board shall reflect the racial, gender, and cultural diversity of the county as well as representation from communities that experience a higher frequency of interactions with law enforcement, including but not limited to people who are Black/African American, Latino, and lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ), first or second-generation immigrants, people with disabilities, people with behavioral health concerns, and people who have experienced homelessness.
Appointees to the Board will serve staggered terms of 3 years, subject to initial appointments as follows:
- 3 appointees shall have a term of 1 year,
- 4 appointees shall have a term of 2 years, and
- 4 appointees, one of which shall be the chairperson, shall have a term of 3 years.
Members may be reappointed but may not serve more than 2 full consecutive 3-year terms.
An individual may not be a member of the Board if:
- They are, or an immediate family member is, an active police officer as defined in Section 3-201 of the Public Safety Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, or
- They have been convicted of, or received a probation before judgement for, a felony or a misdemeanor with a statutory penalty of more than 2 years.
Additional requirements, and expectations of members of the Board include:
- Attendance at meetings, which will be held quarterly, but could be monthly or more, if needed.
- Complete formal and State-required training with the with the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, as well as any future training deemed necessary.
- Maintain the confidentiality of all Board matters related to individual complaints until final disposition and all appeals have been exhausted.
- Be subject to the Frederick County Ethics Law found here.
For more detail and information, individuals may review the enacted Police Accountability Board Law here.
Frederick County Administrative Charging Committee has the following duties:
- Meet at least once per month, and additionally as needed.
- Review the findings of law enforcement agency investigations into police misconduct and make determinations as to whether subject police officers should be administratively charged or not administratively charged.
- If the Committee recommends charging a subject police officer, then the Committee must also recommend discipline in accordance with the law enforcement agency’s disciplinary matrix.
- Review body camera footage and authorize a police officer to appear before the Committee to be accompanied by a representative.
- May require additional investigation into a complaint and may issue subpoenas.
- Issue written opinions detailing its findings, determinations, and recommendations.
Additional requirements and expectations of Committee members include:
- Attendance at meetings: failure to attend at least 75% of the meetings during any period of 12 consecutive months may result in removal from the Committee.
- Complete formal and State-required training with the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, which will consist of 40 hours over 5 consecutive days.
- Complete other training as deemed necessary.
- Maintain the confidentiality of all matters related to individual complaints until final disposition and all appeals have been exhausted.
- Be subject to the Frederick County Ethics Law found here.
Member Terms
The Committee consists of 5 members. The Chair of the Police Accountability Board (or another member of the Board designated by the Chair) shall serve as one member. The County Executive shall appoint 2 members, and the Board shall appoint 2 members.
Appointees to the Committee will serve staggered terms of 2 years, subject to the initial appointments as follows:
- The initial terms of one appointee by the County Executive and one appointee by the Board shall be one year,
- The initial terms of one appointee by the County Executive and one appointee by the Board shall be two years.
Members may be reappointed, but may not serve more than 6 consecutive years of service.
Member Requirements
- Be at least 21 years of age
- Be a legal resident or citizen of the United States
- Be a resident of Frederick County
- Be registered to vote
- Be of good moral character and free from bias that would negatively impact the integrity of the Committee
- Have familiarity or experience within the legal field, the behavioral health field, social services, human resources or personnel management, the operation of a government agency, criminal justice agency, or community service organization
An individual may not be a member of the Committee if:
- They are, or an immediate family member is, an active police officer as defined in Section 3-201 of the Public Safety Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, or
- They have been convicted of, or received probation before judgment for, a felony or a misdemeanor with a statutory penalty of more than 2 years.
For more detail and information, individuals may review the enacted Police Accountability Board Law here.
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