Baltimore will try to streamline sharing police misconduct files, as delays hinder oversight group

Baltimore officials say they are working to streamline the transfer of police misconduct files to the civilian oversight group that determines discipline, amid concerns about delayed cases.

Members of the city’s Administrative Charging Committee told The Baltimore Sun last month that Baltimore Police had been turning over some internal investigations too close to deadlines for disciplinary decisions, forcing them to cram hours of body camera footage into weekends and, at times, schedule emergency meetings.

In response, city staff are working to implement a “timelier, streamlined process,” said Caron Watkins, the interim director of the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, in an email.

Under that plan, the police department will share case materials for any investigation within 30 days of its expiration date, regardless of whether police have completed their investigation. In other words, the Administrative Charging Committee could begin viewing evidentiary records like complaints, body camera footage and witness statements, even as the police still are finalizing the case.

Police also will start sharing a spreadsheet that lists cases that are 30, 60 and 90 days away from their expiration dates. Under state law, disciplinary decisions must be rendered within a year and a day of the date a citizen filed a complaint.

Additionally, at least one member of Baltimore Police will be made available for the committee’s Friday meetings to answer questions, including about officers’ disciplinary histories, Watkins said.

Watkins said the new steps have helped, but added that “we acknowledge there are additional opportunities to improve processes.”

For civilian members of the Administrative Charging Committee, the steps represent an important stopgap measure and a recognition that their concerns are being heard. But they were skeptical that they would be a long-term solution to underlying issues.

“The real solution to the problem would be to give, in some way, shape or form, the [Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee] independent investigative power,” said Ray Kelly, a member of the charging committee and longtime police oversight activist.

Still, Kelly said, the steps are a positive change and a sign that “as of recently” concerns are being taken seriously.

“For a while there, it was like trying to reach this middle ground, with all the concessions coming on our end or [the Office of Equity and Civil Rights’] end,” Kelly said. “Now, I think since Caron stepped in, she’s more in a ‘this is what needs to happen’ kind of thing. I feel like we have a semblance of someone that is supporting civilian oversight.”

Kelly and other members of the five-person committee are tasked with evaluating misconduct investigations and determining case outcomes. Committee members hope for a weekly load of between 15 and 20 cases, but occasionally see up to 30 in a week, which they say can result in a huge time commitment. A handful of cases each week — albeit a small fraction of the group’s overall caseload — arrive close to their expiration, they said last month.

Baltimore’s committee is among the state’s busiest, if not the busiest. The Maryland General Assembly created a framework of civilian oversight in legislation passed in 2021. It includes Administrative Charging Committees in each local jurisdiction, operating alongside a Police Accountability Board that conducts regular meetings with law enforcement leaders and is tasked with an annual report with recommendations for improvements.

An emerging problem for Baltimore’s Administrative Charging Committee has been the cases completed by the police department and turned over to committee members with limited time before their expiration — sometimes just days away.

They said that has forced them at times to schedule emergency meetings. They also argued the practice went against lawmakers’ intent. When there is a time crunch to review cases, there is little chance for the civilian body to ask questions or request further investigation.

Jesmond Riggins, who sits on both the Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee, called city officials’ recent plan “a step in the right direction,” but said the “ultimate issue is getting completed investigations to us in a timely manner.”

“Right now, all of this stuff is pretty new,” Riggins said. “What I can say is: Time will tell.”

The availability of case materials 30 days from expiration doesn’t present a full fix to the problem, Kelly and Riggins said. While body camera footage or the complaint are important pieces of evidence, so are investigative materials like a timestamped police report (pointing to specific moments in body camera footage) and interviews with police officers — both of which would be in a completed police investigation.

“Reports have the information that help me zero in on what I need to be paying attention to, so that I can move on to the next case,” Riggins said. “Some of these [steps], they’re poking around the edges of what the issue is and how to remedy it.”

Kelly agreed: “Just giving us access to body camera footage is nowhere near enough for us to start actually looking at a case in a substantive way.”

Baltimore Police’s Public Integrity Bureau handled 1,475 cases in 2023, roughly half of which fell under the oversight of the civilian committee because they involved members of the public. While the consent decree calls for a 90-day turnaround on misconduct cases, investigators are averaging roughly 144 days, Deputy Commissioner Brian Nadeau told The Sun last month. He said staffing constraints have made speeding investigations more difficult.

Other steps Watkins and department staff are taking include creating a new central email address for committee support staff to better track the intake of cases and working with the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation on a system to better track the misconduct cases police are investigating.

Watkins said the Office of Equity and Civil Rights hasn’t been able to “seamlessly” integrate police data and hopes to be able to more easily follow case statuses throughout their “entire lifecycle,” from when they are initiated to when they expire.

The plan has yet to fully materialize, committee members say, and there still have been cases sent to the group close to expiration. But the committee is largely hopeful things will improve.

“For us, we’ve only had one meeting since these proposed changes were brought to the table,” Kelly said. “Hopefully, over the next few meetings, we’ll start seeing the difference. Hopefully.”

Everyone on the committee felt something had to be done, Kelly added.

“The fact that it’s trying to be addressed,” he said, “and, once again, we have some kind of advocate in the process was a win for us.”