Read a PDF of our statement here.
LDF Provides Input on Independent Monitor’s Priorities for First Year of Implementing Policing Reform Agreement in Baltimore
Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Baltimore officials, and the independent monitor overseeing the January 2017 policing reform consent decree, providing input on the implementation priorities for the first year of the agreement. LDF’s letter aims to assist with ensuring that the monitor has a clear plan to address the Baltimore Police Department’s (BPD) widespread and longstanding unlawful policing practices, and that the plan begins with the most urgent reforms. In addition to outlining key areas of focus for the first year of the agreement, the letter also asks key questions about how certain reforms will be put in place.
LDF’s letter outlines 20 areas of focus for the independent monitoring team, including:
1) Posting of the monitor’s annual budget on its public website;
2) Monitoring Plan, Reports, and Communication with Monitor;
3) Community Oversight Task Force;
4) Community Engagement;
5) Voluntary Contacts between BPD Officers and the Public;
6) Involuntary Investigatory Stops and Detention;
7) Arrests;
8) Stops, Searches and Arrests Training;
9) Supervisory Review of Stops, Searches, and Arrests;
10) Stop, Search, and Arrest Data Collection and Review;
11) Impartial Policing;
12) Responding to and Interacting with People with Behavioral Health Disabilities or in Crisis;
13) Use of Force;
14) Interactions with Youth;
15) First Amendment Protections;
16) Sexual Assault Investigations, Supervision, and Internal Oversight;
17) Technology – Early Intervention System and Body-Worn Cameras;
18) Supervision;
19) Disciplinary Hearings; and
20) Coordination with Baltimore City School Police Force.
LDF’s letter emphasizes how critical it is that the parties and the monitor ensure that each and every requirement in the consent decree is carried out and that the implementation process is transparent. We appreciate the opportunity to provide detailed input on the impending monitoring plan.
Read LDF’s letter here
Press:
###
Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.
