We, the undersigned organizations and supporters, insist that the Anne Arundel County Executive and County Council incorporate recommendations from the communities most impacted by policing in the membership, budget, staffing, investigative, and record retention policies of the local Police Accountability Board. By signing this petition you can show your support for the recommendations of the civil and human rights community of Anne Arundel County.

Following the widely viewed murder of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin, we participated in an unprecedented number of massive anti-police brutality protests in 2020. Anne Arundel County itself saw dozens of marches, rallies, and other mobilizations in support of police reform. These actions by the community caused the Maryland General Assembly to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBR).  LEOBR was a law that protected bad cops and encouraged bad policing.  The Maryland General Assembly replaced LEOBR with the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 (MPAA).

Now, under the MPAA, every county in Maryland must create a Police Accountability Board. 

For our county's PAB to be true to the spirit of the law, the County Executive and County Council must draft the ordinance in an open and transparent fashion, with significant input from the communities most impacted by bad policing and the organizations that represent them.  

Check out the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement for more information on effective community oversight of the police.