The Greenbelt City Council continues to grapple with the best way forward on the issue of reform in the city’s Police Department, spurred by Mayor Colin Byrd’s revised Fair and Just Policing Act proposal and by the subsequent review of its first iteration by the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). While both the council and PSAC are in agreement on the need for reform in certain areas like use of force, civil liberties and stop and frisk, the central debate revolves around whether the changes should be brought about by modifying the department’s General Orders, a legislative ordinance, or a combination of the two. The issue was discussed at a worksession on October 4 as well as at the council meeting on October 11.
General Orders, which dictate police policies, are binding in their application, with discipline applied when not complied with. Yet, they lack the permanence and authority of an ordinance. Compared with an ordinance, a General Order is easily changed or modified (which is done on a frequent basis to conform to ongoing developments). Changing an ordinance requires a formal review and vote by council. Thus, the debate centered on the merits of expediency versus a more deliberative legal process.
In their report, PSAC expressed a preference to proceed by addressing the General Orders for the following reasons: many of the orders already address issues requested by the mayor’s initial proposal to PSAC; the ones that require modification are easily amended; and the upcoming state police legislation will remedy any other needed changes.
Chief Richard Bowers was reticent to enact an ordinance, as the department is awaiting the state’s new police legislation guidelines that will take effect on July 1, 2022. Bowers said that significant changes to the General Orders are expected, requiring training. It would be problematic to legislate city police policy now only to have to potentially change it and retrain later on.
Greenbelt is one of three county municipal police departments that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), which requires a rigorous review of a department’s policies and record. Greenbelt continues to have a Tier One status, which was praised by council.
In spite of this, PSAC and council felt that there were still areas that could exceed the CALEA standards and that to wait a year for the state’s legislation to take effect was too long; there are General Orders that could be modified now with minimal procedure.
Resident Ric Gordon voiced the sentiments of many participants as he said reform is necessary for a better organization, even as he praised and supported the efforts of the department.
Body camera use and its accompanying footage was a major point of discussion. All agreed that their use should be ubiquitous and that a clearer instruction on who is responsible for maintenance be established.
A time deadline for the release of footage is a sticking point. Bowers said that camera footage must undergo time-consuming redactions of personal information unrelated to the event being investigated. As Greenbelt has only a single IT employee tasked with this responsibility, in addition to other IT duties, a realistic deadline is required. At the close of the council meeting debate, seven days was suggested as a compromise, yet this still awaits a final decision.
The fair and humane treatment of juveniles was a topic of concern, with PSAC member Peggy Higgins and resident Lois Rosado emphasizing the need for a parent or guardian during an interrogation, in line with international standards.
All present were anxious to confirm the lack of any racial bias in traffic stops and incidents of stop and frisk. At the moment, Greenbelt has no system to get the full demographics on these two concerns, something that all agreed needs to be remedied. The department is currently working with a UMD statistician to get a complete record of traffic stops.
Suggestions were made to mandate the department presenting all new General Orders before council and PSAC before implementing. Bowers explained that often orders undergo minor, more administrative type changes to wording, making a full review each time beforehand laborious. He did agree that when it came to major changes, he was glad to give an update to council and PSAC. A compromise was recommended whereupon a new General Order would be sent for review upon enactment.
In an effort to bring the discussion out of the abstract, Byrd recounted a personal experience from 2016 when he was stopped by Greenbelt officers on the street at gunpoint for suspicion of wrongdoing. When he later filed a complaint and asked for release of body camera footage, his requests went unheeded.
Bowers expressed that while this debate had a contentious atmosphere at times, he believed they were all working toward the end goal of a professional, respectful and equitable police department.
Byrd clarified his aim to have a police policy based on his proposal’s recommendations, many of which were derived from PSAC, voted in and applied to the General Orders, with an ordinance being sought later.
As there were many changes made to Byrd’s proposal at the meeting, council voted 4 to 3 to forestall the vote until after another worksession where it can be discussed in detail with the public given a chance for input.