After months of deliberation and debate, the Greenbelt City Council passed a 22-item police reform resolution on January 10. This resolution would modify various General Orders of the Greenbelt Police Department which dictate its day-to-day operations. With the impetus being Councilmember Colin Byrd’s Greenbelt Fair and Just Policing Act, proposed in 2020, a thorough review was done by the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) that endeavored to provide specific and the most effective alterations and correlations to the existing General Orders. In addition, the landmark April 2021 state police reform legislation stood as a powerful influence and guide.
The resolution covers policy in several areas, the major ones being: an emphasis on de-escalation, “fair, impartial and objective” conduct and a “guardian police model”; the safe and judicious use of no-knock warrants; more detailed and transparent records on police actions and the civilians involved to ensure equity; ubiquitous use of body cameras; civilian oversight in line with new state law; and the use of a specialist in order to enlist a more diverse department that reflects the city’s population.
Still to be Considered
Nine items remain on a list of reforms requiring further review for later passage. They cover the following subjects: required referral to the state attorney’s office on any investigations where an officer’s conduct resulted in a fatality; the banning of detention of a civilian not suspected of a specific crime; the length of time for the release of body-camera footage; the banning of no-knock warrants in the city; and various issues around stop and frisk, including the banning of any unconstitutional usage and information gathering on those for whom it has been used. Council is keen on reaching final deliberations on these standing issues in the near future.
Amendments Withdrawn
Byrd introduced two amendments, both of which were debated and later withdrawn for separate reasons. The first sought to make the public release of disciplinary and internal affairs records of the department, even those found baseless, “releasable” (a stronger term), as mandated by Anton’s Law, a recent statute that amended the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA). Byrd stated his misgiving with the use of the word “comply” (in reference to Anton’s Law) in the resolution’s corresponding General Order, citing the term’s ambiguous interpretation by the county Police Department, who he said have a history of not making these records available on a regular basis. When told by Captain Timothy White that the Greenbelt Police Department is already performing a policy in line with Byrd’s wishes, including making past documents available, he withdrew the amendment as unnecessary.
The second amendment concerned establishing a term of 10 working days to satisfy the request for a release of body-camera footage. The department has determined that this is a performable timeframe. Yet, a sticking point arose when Chief Richard Bowers said that attorneys at times will use MPIA avenues to gather footage for cases like auto crashes. Normally in cases like these, attorneys would employ a subpoena, which has a 30-day time period. White and Bowers were concerned that setting a 10-day general timeframe would apply to these cases as well if sought through MPIA. So, a debate arose over whether more tiered parameters need to be applied, with the 10-day mandate reserved for more urgent situations. While there was reluctance over leaving this unsettled and some frustration from Byrd for the unexpected revelation of the problem (White responded that this was a more recent problem, largely from the closing of the courts due to inclement weather), it was deemed wise to revisit this item later, with Byrd withdrawing the amendment.
Reform Takes Time
Faced with the potential for another delayed vote, resident Lois Rosado expressed consternation with council for the onerous length of time it has taken to adopt these reforms, citing that council risked becoming “a laughingstock” in the area. Councilmember Judith Davis reassured her that it was only the still-to-be-determined items that would require later voting. Mayor Emmett Jordan stressed the historic and important nature of these reforms, saying that they required deliberation to avoid “unintended consequences.”
In the end, the current resolution was passed unanimously. PSAC member Peggy Higgins praised council for their persistence in seeing this through, and summed up the general feeling that “there was more to be done.”