Maryland bill would expand attorney general's powers in police probes

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A measure before Maryland lawmakers would give the state's attorney general independent authority to prosecute police in cases that the office already investigates when someone is injured or dies when officers are involved.

The bill, which had a hearing Tuesday, would expand a part of a package of police reforms approved two years ago in response to concerns about police accountability after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020.

The Independent Investigations Division was formed in the attorney general's office to investigate police-involved deaths of civilians throughout the state. While current law empowers the division to probe the cases and provide facts to local prosecutors, it's local prosecutors who decide whether to bring charges.

So far no officers have been charged after such investigations. Supporters of the new measure say it will help eliminate potential conflicts of interest between local prosecutors and police.

Sponsor Will Smith, the chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the measure is needed to "round out and finalize our much-needed and important reforms."

"It will be more transparent, and it will be more responsive to our citizens' needs," said Smith, a Montgomery County Democrat.

Attorney General Anthony Brown, also a Democrat, called it "the natural evolution in the reforms that the General Assembly began to undertake" when it first enacted the law.

"I believe that if this bill is passed, it is going to enhance public confidence in both the investigation and the prosecution of police-involved deaths," Brown testified. "We're going to do our job in a fair and balanced way as we've done for the last two years with the investigations, and we would take the identical approach to prosecutions."

But some on the committee questioned why the law should be changed when there is no evidence that local prosecutors have failed to be impartial.

"Without having any facts to necessitate this change, I just find it highly insulting to the state's attorneys who do an outstanding job," said Sen. William Folden, a Frederick County Republican.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, speaking to reporters before the hearing, said he believed a measure would advance this year that will result in an expansion of powers in the attorney general's office, though the bill might be changed. He said state's attorneys will have concerns if they are removed from the process entirely, and they may retain some role in the prosecutorial process regarding police-involved fatalities.

"I think that's an option on the table," said Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat. "It's certainly something the committee will consider before moving forward."

The attorney general's office investigated 23 fatalities involving police in the law's first year. None of the investigations resulted in officers being charged, the office said in a report released in November covering the first year the division was operational. They comprised 13 cases of fatal shootings by police, seven people who died during vehicle pursuits and three who died in custody.