Police
Police and corrections officers might be the arbiters of public order, but when those charged with upholding the law are caught violating it, this state has faced obstacles in bringing them to justice.
A Fraternal Order of Police bill sponsored by state Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) and Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery) would expand the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, requiring investigators to dismiss serious abuses if they commit technical mistakes while examining alleged misconduct.
Such abuses, including police brutality, corruption and racial profiling, are gross misuses of power and should not be condoned under any circumstances. Though the importance of due process is unquestionable, the exclusionary rule provided under the bill would further complicate the already-lengthy disciplinary process.
An incident at this university highlights the drawn-out nature of police internal investigations. In 2011, Prince George’s County police officers Reginald Baker and James J. Harrison were charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and misconduct in office for their actions during the March 2010 riot after the Terrapins men’s basketball team’s 79-72 victory over Duke.
Video footage showed then-21-year-old university student John McKenna being beaten by several police officers with batons, The Diamondback reported at the time. The case went on to receive national media attention and multiple investigations.
Baker was acquitted of all charges in October 2012, and Harrison was found guilty of second-degree assault more than a year after the two were indicted. Harrison retired from the department, and Baker returned to full duty earlier this month.
The disciplinary process took place over nearly four years, a testament to already-protracted internal investigation procedures.
And in 2013, scandal rocked Baltimore as former and current corrections officers at the Baltimore City Detention Center and the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center faced arrest for racketeering and money- and drug-laundering conspiracies in connection with the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang.
An unprecedented disgrace to the state’s penitentiary system, the scandal raised further legal concerns when investigators found jail administrators’ attempts to take punitive action against guards suspected of misconduct had met extreme difficulty.
The Correctional Officers’ Bill of Rights, a state law granting workplace safeguards, largely prevented jail management from disciplining corrupt corrections officers.
The scandal proved both ironic and highly worrisome — officers tasked with supervising and penalizing inmates conspired to create a network that essentially handed violent gang members control of the facility. An estimated 75 percent of detention center guards participate in smuggling, according to a former corrections officer federal authorities interviewed in July.
It’s simply unfathomable that facility administrators were unable to handle the situation when they first learned of corrections officers’ misconduct, instead forcing a federal investigation.
That scandal exposed a fundamental policy shortcoming and provoked criticism of the state prison system’s oversight of inmates. The bill at hand might result in more procedural blunders with regard to the state’s police officers.
It’s important to note that though police unions have supported the bill, police chiefs and sheriffs statewide have expressed fears that the new exclusionary rule would further complicate weeding out corrupt officers and fostering public trust in their departments, according to The Washington Post.
At this university, students and city officials expressed concern last year over increased off-campus University Police jurisdiction in the months leading up to the Code of Student Conduct expansion in May. This editorial board supported the expansion, trusting the department would handle its new responsibilities justly.
The department has yet to give us any reason to retract that trust, but the same cannot be said for other state officers. The Baltimore jail scandal provides just one example of what can happen when power goes unchecked, and with the bill of rights expansion on the table, it would appear that lawmakers — and officers — are willing to let such abuses continue.
