Newly-Created Unit Will Investigate Police-Involved Fatalities
MARYLAND 2021 – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced Dana Mulhauser as chief of the Independent Investigations Unit in the Office of Attorney General. The Unit was established after passage of a package of police reform bills during the 2021 General Assembly session, and is charged with investigating police-involved fatalities.
Since 2019, Mulhauser has served as the founding chief of the Conviction and Incident Review Unit in the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The unit is devoted to reviewing police shootings and prosecuting all cases involving excessive force and police misconduct. Prior to her work in Missouri, Mulhauser served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice where she investigated and prosecuted police misconduct, hate crime, and human trafficking cases nationwide. Successful cases include the first-ever excessive force prosecution of corrections officers at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison, as well as one of the largest labor trafficking prosecutions in history that involved a ring operating in Ohio that forced Guatemalan teenagers to work at chicken farms.
“Dana brings a wealth of experience leading complex federal cases centering around law-enforcement misconduct,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Her sense of fairness, ability to lead a team of investigators and prosecutors, and commitment to transparency makes her the ideal person to lead the Unit. We look forward to Dana joining our team.”
“I have devoted my career to investigating excessive-force cases because I believe that they are among the most crucial tests of our values and commitments to each other,” said Dana Mulhauser. “I am honored to join the effort to put Maryland’s new police reforms into practice, and I look forward to helping build a statewide system that will examine fatal incidents with rigor and impartiality.”
“Dana has built a robust and systematic process for investigating use-of-force cases in St. Louis County, and she has gained the respect of the community by being tough but fair,” said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. “I hate to lose her and know what a force we are losing in her, but I look forward to seeing her continue to do this vital work for the state of Maryland.”
In March 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed SB600 - Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, creating an Independent Investigative Unit within the Office of the Attorney General. The Unit is charged with investigating all alleged or potential police-involved deaths of civilians, and to provide a report containing detailed investigative findings to the State’s Attorney of the County that has jurisdiction. The unit chief will oversee the operations of the Independent Investigations Unit and have a critical role in shaping the policies and protocols of the Unit.
Mulhauser received a B.A. in History with Highest Honors from Stanford University. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was Notes editor of the Harvard Law Review. She begins her work as chief on August 18th.
