* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Scott
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
title
Request for State Action - Require True Local Oversight of Private College Police Forces in Baltimore
For the purpose of calling on the Maryland General Assembly to amend SB-1241, and its companion bill HB1803, before passage to require City Council involvement in the creation of police forces for private colleges in Baltimore; and further requesting the Governor not to sign these bills or similar legislation until the legislation includes checks and balances from all branches of Baltimore’s Government.
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Recitals
Colleges and Universities having their own police force is common throughout the country, including in Baltimore. However, allowing a private university to create a police force through a memorandum of understanding with only the Mayor and Police Commissioner bypasses the local legislative body creating another police entity that is not locally controlled. Currently, the Baltimore City Police Department occupies an unusual legal position as a creature of State, rather than City, law, officially an “agency and instrumentality of the State of Maryland”, that operates only on territory controlled by Baltimore City and that for most, but not quite all, purposes is treated like any other City Agency.
The handful of ways that this unusual arrangement causes the Police Department to differ from other City departments are unfortunately...
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