SALISBURY, Md. - State lawmakers overrode Governor Hogan's vetoes of three police reform bills.
As part of a sweeping police reform, body cameras will required for all police officers in the state by July 2025.
Another bill, "Anton's Law", will update use-of-force guidelines for police officers. Limitations for "no knock warrants" were created as well as another bill expanding public access to police disciplinary records. The biggest bill, however, House Bill 670, is the one making headlines.
In 1974, Maryland was the first state to implement a bill of rights for law enforcement. The Law Enforcement Officer's Bill of Rights allowed officers due process in the event they were subject to investigation. When an officer was accused of workplace misconduct, it allowed the officer to appeal to a local board without civilian input.
By repealing the LEOBR, community leaders who support the change, like Jared Schablein, say the hope is to level the playing field when it comes to accountability. "It makes it so you [police officers] don't get a blank check to do whatever you [they] want," Schablein says, "most police officers I talked to who aren't elected officials, just your regular police officers, here in the community and around the state, you know they don't like bad cops. Bad cops make them look bad. It makes their job a lot tougher."
Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis, a vocal critic of repealing the LEOBR, sees it as Annapolis telling law enforcement how to do their job.
It eliminates my authority to discipline a police officer in cases where there has been a use of force. That is going to be left up to civilians," Sheriff Lewis says, "they [legislators] have stripped the sheriff and police chiefs of our authority to be the final arbiter of any type of disciplinary action for our police officers."
The new bill establishes each county to have a police accountability board, composed of the public. Citizens will be able to serve on the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, which determines use of force.
Another key component of the bill requires all law enforcement agencies in the state to submit the number of use of force complaints to that commission by March 1st of each year.