Maryland Leads the Way With Racial Profiling Restrictions
Four months after the controversial death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore police custody—which added fuel to a national debate about race, policing, and use of force—Maryland has announced new guidelines to restrict racial profiling by law enforcement. It is the first state to issue guidelines intended to hamper police profiling based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Attorney General Brian E. Frosh made the announcement on Tuesday.
“This is a huge first step,” Alvin Gillard, executive director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, told TakePart. “This initiation by the attorney general recognizes how important it is, particularly now in light of the issues of trust which exist between many law enforcement agencies and the community.”
In December, the Obama administration announced rules to limit racial profiling by federal law enforcement. The rules were expanded to restrict not just profiling by race but profiling by religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Border patrol and Transportation Security Agents at airports were exempt from the federal guidelines.
Frosh indicated that Maryland’s guidelines were “inspired by” the administration’s rules, according to The New York Times.
The state’s Commission on Civil Rights will meet with law enforcement leaders in the coming weeks to discuss adoption of the guidelines, according to Gillard. “Early indication is that many of the larger law enforcement agencies throughout the state are supporting and will take steps to codify the guidelines,” Gillard said. “The hope is that they will become uniform standard.”
Not all law enforcement groups had a warm reaction. Larry Harmel, executive director of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, told The New York Times that he saw the guidelines as more of a gesture that flattered Frosh than anything else, given that the federal guidelines are already in place.
The treatment of black community members by law enforcement has taken center stage in the past year, amid the many deaths of black men, women, and children at the hands of police around the country.
"We believe we can improve the administration of justice,” Frosh told reporters at a news conference following the announcement. “Experience shows us that improper profiling by police does terrible damage.”
Related stories on TakePart:
• A Former Baltimore Police Officer Breaks His Silence
• Maryland Chooses Jail Over Schools for Baltimore Youths
Original article from TakePart
