What is the Baltimore Police Accountability Board? WJZ gets insight into its work
BALTIMORE -- WJZ is getting new insight into the work being done by the newly formed Baltimore Police Accountability Board (PAB).
It was formed last year after the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill requiring every jurisdiction in the state to have one.
Since its first meeting in June of this year, the PAB has been very busy.
"We've heard 395 cases, and we will review another 18 today for a total of 413 cases," PAB member Jesmond Riggins said.
The 17 member board reviews complaints made by the public about police misconduct.
"We had a backlog of 150 cases," Riggins said. "This (was) before we even started putting pin to pad."
Some of the board members held a news conference outside City Hall Thursday.
A few community members joined, including Heather Johnson, who wanted to learn more about how to file a complaint.
"I've got to give it a chance right," Johnson said. "I've got to work out the process."
The PAB, which is overseen by the city's Office of Equity and Civil Rights, is made up of community members selected by the Mayor and City Council.
Their goal is to bring police accountability and transparency, a job they take very seriously due to Baltimore's dark history of police misconduct and civil rights violations.
"The whole point of police accountability, it's not about being anti-cop," Sergio Espana with ACLU Maryland said. "It's about ensuring that public safety actually works."
Within the PAB is the five member Administrative Charging Committee, they're the ones who meet once a week to review cases and make recommendations about what happens next.
"If we determine that the officer did engage in misconduct, we will charge the officer and we will make those disciplinary recommendations based on the disciplinary matrix that all police departments use statewide," Riggins said.
The ACC said there have been a few times they've disagreed with police on a recommendation, but wouldn't elaborate on how many times that's happened or on which cases.
The PAB said they will put out a report each year with recommendations for legislation and for the police department.
The board plans to hold another news conference after that report comes out next year.
