June 16, 2020 The Honorable Lawrence J. Hogan Governor State House Annapolis, MD 21401 Dear Governor Hogan: The past three weeks have exposed what some of us have known for years: that enforcement of our laws has not yielded equal justice for all Marylanders. Policing in our country is broken. While we have taken some important steps together with you – most notably passage of the Justice Reinvestment Act – we have not done enough to fix policing in Maryland. As a result of House Bill 954 of 2015 and House Bill 1016 of 2016, the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission issued best practices, protocols, standards and data collection requirements to all law enforcement agencies in the State of Maryland to follow for use of force. But we need to do more. We ask that you immediately sign an Executive Order for all State-controlled law enforcement agencies to require some of these best practices recommended by your Police Training and Standards Commission. You have under your immediate jurisdiction more than 18 law enforcement agencies (including higher education policing agencies) that can start saving lives right now. Specifically, we ask that you:    1 Require that deadly force is only used to “stop an imminent threat of death or seriously bodily injury to the officer” or a citizen;1 Require a duty to intervene for those police officers who see another officer “using force beyond what is objectively reasonable under the circumstances;” Implement an early warning system to identify excessive incidents involving use of force and immediately re-train that officer; Quotes are directly from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission Protocols and Standards for Use of Force and Use of Force Training Concepts and Best Practices. https://mdle.net/pdf/UOF_Best_Practices.pdf   Ban shooting at vehicles, unless the vehicle is clearly being used for deadly force against an officer or another person; and Require that every officer within a State law enforcement agency sign an affirmative written sanctity of life pledge to “respect every human life” and “act with compassion toward others,” as recommended by MPTSC. In addition, we ask that you immediately ban the use of chokeholds for any State law enforcement officer. Finally, we ask that MPTSC report to the Maryland General Assembly by July 10, 2020 which police departments in the State:    are not reporting use of force data; have implemented a use of force policy; are requiring de-escalation, use of less lethal force and implicit bias training. As you know, the House has convened a legislative workgroup with the full intent of mandating these things in the 2021 legislative session, in addition to other legal requirements to begin to undo the systemic inequality that our justice system continues to hand out every day. However, you have the power with the stroke of your pen to begin this process today. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Speaker Adrienne A. Jones Chairman Luke Clippinger Vice Chairman Vanessa Atterbeary Majority Leader Eric Luedtke Caucus Chair Jazz Lewis Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes Majority Whip Talmadge Branch Chairman Maggie McIntosh Chairman Dereck E. Davis Chairman Kumar Barve Chairman Shane Pendergrass Chairman Anne Healey Chairman Anne Kaiser Vice Chairman Kathleen Dumais Vice Chairman Michael Jackson Vice Chairman Dana Stein Vice Chairman Joseline Peña-Melnyk Vice Chairman Alonzo Washington Vice Chairman Marvin Holmes, Jr. Delegate Brooke Lierman Delegate Julian Ivey Delegate Lorig Charkoudian Delegate Samuel Rosenberg Delegate Vaughn Stewart Delegate Erek Barron Delegate Lesley Lopez Delegate Lily Qi Delegate Carol Krimm Delegate Diana Fennell Delegate Kirill Reznik Delegate Emily Shetty Delegate Andrea Harrison Delegate Al Carr Delegate Kris Valderrama Delegate Ariana Kelly Delegate Karen Lewis Young Delegate David Moon Delegate Jared Solomon Delegate Debra Davis Delegate Carl Jackson Delegate Veronica Turner Delegate Lisa Belcastro Delegate Sheila Ruth Delegate Sara Love Delegate Bonnie Cullison Delegate Marc Korman Delegate Jared Solomon Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield Delegate Eric Ebersole Delegate Edith Patterson Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr Delegate Ron Watson Delegate Mark Chang Delegate Mary Lehman Delegate Tony Bridges Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith Delegate Pam Queen Delegate Jon Cardin Delegate Darryl Barnes Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins Delegate Sandy Bartlett Delegate Nick Mosby Delegate Jim Gilchrist Delegate Wanika Fisher Delegate Ken Kerr Delegate Nicole Williams Delegate Heather Bagnall Delegate Dalya Attar Delegate Michele Guyton Delegate Steve Johnson Delegate Benjamin Brooks Delegate Ned Carey Delegate Jessica Feldmark Delegate Terri Hill Delegate Ben Barnes Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo Delegate Jen Terrasa Delegate C.T. Wilson Delegate Melissa Wells Delegate Robbyn Lewis Delegate Mike Rogers Delegate Curt Anderson Delegate Harry Bhandari Delegate Nick Charles Delegate Dana Jones Delegate Pat Young Delegate Cathi Forbes Delegate Keith Haynes Delegate Frank Conaway Delegate Chanel Branch Delegate Brian Crosby Delegate Jay Walker Delegate Regina Boyce Delegate Stephanie Smith Delegate Susie Proctor Delegate Shaneka Henson Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti Delegate Gabriel Acevero Delegate Jay Jalisi