Johns Hopkins Police Accountability Board moves meeting online amid threats of protest
BALTIMORE -- The Johns Hopkins Police Accountability Board moved its Wednesday night meeting from in-person to virtual after community members threatened to protest.
The board notified the community that the annual public meeting would be held virtually after more than one law enforcement agency warned of credible threats, officials said.
"We recognize the importance of public engagement and understand this change may be unexpected," the board said in an email. "However, given the nature of the threats, this precautionary measure is necessary to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved."
In a statement to WJZ, a university spokesperson said the board decided to hold the meeting virtually, "to ensure accessibility, ensuring members of the community can offer their views and participate productively after calls for disruption to the event circulated online."
During Wednesday night's virtual meeting, some students called for board members to resign.
"If you have any respect for yourselves or any genuine concern for the community, you will resign from your position and join the people in opposing this dangerous police project," one student said.
The board will have its next committee meeting in mid-December.
You can share your input, read up on current policies and procedures by visiting the website of sending an email directly to the board: accountabilityboard@jhu.edu
The board will have its next committee meeting in mid-December.
Accountability Board Receives Pushback
Wednesday's latest meeting was held virtually by JHU's Police Accountability board where they went into detail about the purpose and role of the board.
"The intentionality behind how the public accountability unit was created to be separate outside of the chain of command of the Hopkins Police Department as a measure of further accountability," said Dan Harrington, who spoke alongside the Johns Hopkins Police Accountability Board during the meeting.
The campus community also aired their concerns, and questioned things like funding, jurisdictional boundaries and accountability.
"Having a private police force just seems like flexing that ability to continue suppressing us and continue terrorizing us which no one deserves," said Sophia Baleeiro, a student at Johns Hopkins.
"It would be important to me that this thing moves in a positive direction so that it could be the best private police force that ever existed," explained Sharon Guida, another community member.
The accountability board said they plan to continue having these discussions about the future of the Hopkins Police Department.
"This Police Department is doing something that has never been done before," explained Merchant-Jones. "They have bought in the community, they have bought in faculty, they have bought in staff, they have bought in students. Some of us believe in this police department and what it brings positively to the city of Baltimore, and some are skeptical, and some just don't want it. And yet, we work together."
"There are ways both sides can still come together to find some amicable solutions to help move forward with some ideas and approaches so that this can be effective," said Jerrell Bratcher, a member of the Johns Hopkins Police Accountability Board.
Development of the Private Police Department
A Maryland law signed in 2019 allowed the university to create its own private armed police force for its Baltimore campuses. At the time, Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels said the department would have 100 officers who would be subject to the highest standards of policing.
In 2020, the university paused its plan to create a private police force after nationwide protests erupted over police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a man who died in Minneapolis when a police officer kneeled on his neck.
In 2022, the proposal was revived and put forward for public comment.
According to draft documents, the armed officers will wear body cameras and will patrol the university's Homewood, Peabody and medical campuses.
The officers will only be allowed to use police powers off campus if they are pursuing a suspect or directing traffic.
Previous Protests and Next Steps
Johns Hopkins students, staff and community advocates had been protesting the development of a private police department for years.
Previously, students have staged protests, disrupted public meetings and a group called the "Coalition Against Policing by Hopkins" filed a lawsui t over the Memorandum of Understanding between the Baltimore Police Department and JHPD.
The memorandum draws jurisdictional boundaries between BPD and JHPD, organizes which agency responds to certain calls for service, and dictates when city police would lead an investigation.
In 2022, protesters shut down two town halls held to discuss the formation of the police force. The town halls are required by Maryland law to be held before a police department is created.
Some students said they do not think the police will be held accountable or be able to keep them safe.
"To me, the answer isn't more police, especially police that isn't accountable to the public," Councilwoman Odette Ramos said during one of the protests.
Since then, the effort has progressed, and in July the university published the final policies and procedures that will govern its private police force.
