Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To read last week’s responses on "Spring Break: Too Long or Just Right?", click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Civilian Police Accountability Boards
Civilians will soon be policing the police, for better or worse.
The Police Accountability Board (PAB) was created in compliance with the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, a series of laws enacted by the Maryland General Assembly to ensure oversight, accountability, and transparency in policing after input from affected communities. In Maryland, each county is required to seat their PAB by July 1, 2022.
The Anne Arundel County Council passed the legislation to establish Anne Arundel County’s PAB at their April 18th meeting. The legislation sets the PAB seats at nine voting members, all of whom must be civilians. And the City of Annapolis will be represented by appointing one of these nine voting members. Other counties in the state are creating their boards similarly.
The PABs will engage in quarterly meetings and work with law enforcement agencies to improve matters of policing; receive complaints of police misconduct and forward to the appropriate agencies for investigation; appoint members of Administrative Charging Committees and Trial Boards; review outcomes of disciplinary matters; and report trends and recommend policies to elected officials to improve accountability in policing.
What do you think about Police Accountability Boards? Is it wise to have civilians—many of whom will not have first-hand training or experience of the occupation—overseeing police? Or is third-party oversight a good thing?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
