Today is the final day of the MD Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee's hearings on police reform bills. The hearing will begin at 1:00 and go until 5:00. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC093es-j2JTMje-CSO75mVQ

The Judicial Proceedings Committee (JPR) YouTube channel has the prior days hearings and will live stream today's event.

Today the committee will being hearing bill JPR 15 which would repeal the Law Enforcement Officer's Bill of Rights. The bill is sponsored by @jillpcarter and meets one of the @ACLU_MD coalition demands for #policeaccountability in MD.

If JPR passes this bill out of committee it will go to a vote in front of the entire MD Senate after they reconvene in January. To ensure that this bill passes out of committee email the membership to show your support: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Committees/Details?cmte=jpr

Neill Franklin from Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) voices support for full repeal of LEOBR. Concedes that it does put LEO above the people they are meant to protect and serve. Hopes that it will send a message to citizens that police are willing to put citizens first.

David Rocah of @ACLU_MD gives testimony in favor of JPR 15. "The central feature of LEOBR is not how we run any other workplace" - that LEO do not have due process, they are only investigated by other officers when charges of misconduct arise.

Mr Rocah says "it is no accident" that this lack of accountability coincides with positions that have the most disparate impact on Black neighborhoods and brown bodies.

Davyon Love of @LBSBaltimore reminds the committee that an industry that is allowed to regulate itself often faces issues of corruption. The LEOBR does not allow for outside oversight of police departments, does not allow the community to look at police misconduct records.

Unsurprisingly, the three representatives from the Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs giving testimony have all expressed opposition to the full repeal of LEOBR.

General Counsel for the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) is opposed a civilian investigator of police and to making misconduct records more easily accessible to the public.

Now the committee members will ask the first panel questions about their testimony. Much of the opposition to JPR 15 will center around what to do if LEOBR is repealed.

Many, including some Democrat Senators, seem to believe that without LEOBR there will be a vacuum of investigatory processes and justice if there is not a specific police trial board for misconduct complains.

Representatives for police have expressed alarm at the prospect that every jurisdiction in MD would create their own process for investigating police misconduct. Which is amusing, since each jurisdiction has misconduct processes for their other civil employees...

Sen Carter asking Mr. Rocah of @ACLU_MD to address this concern now:

Mr. Rocah says that with the repeal of LEOBR a state-wide procedure should be put in place. The same one used for all of the public employees.

Mr. Rocah also suggests that a law should be made to preempt any local attempts to create police exclusive disciplinary boards. Suggests that a system for a civilian disciplinary board should be set up.

Now @jillpcarter addresses that while it's important to have a panel of experts who can speak to the legal implication of full repeal of LEOBR, she acknowledges that there are huge implications for the moral and emotional well being of the community.

Sen Carter asks Dayvon Love of @LBSBaltimore to address what this repeal would mean for the members of the Black community.

@DayvonLove reminds us that community organizers have been asking for this since 2015.

Mr. Love continues that expecting the community to trust law enforcement is irrational when members of the community are blown off when they make complaints about officer actions. When there is no record made when they contact officer's supervisors.

After the experts comes the testimony of members of the public. Many are family members of individuals murdered by police officers who were never found guilty of misconduct due to LEOBR. You owe them your attention, watch here:

Sister of a man stabbed and shot by police last year shares that she has been denied access to body worn camera footage that has been shared with members of the media. She has also been denied by the officer's chief the ability to file a complaint against the officers.

now @deray is speaking on behalf of Campaign Zero reminding the committee that most states do not have a LEOBR. Says that getting rid of the current hearing board and replacing it with a civilian led review board will improve public perception.

And @deray also goes on to point out that the opposition to allowing the public to make open complaints against officers will not result in a flood of fake reports and if we told police that they could not take tips from the public they would say it would impact their work.

Also from Campaign Zero is @samswey who is making a case for the data; we need transparency on how many complaints, what kind of complaints, and how complaints are dealt with.