Most of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board is up for reappointment – critics see political interference
Mayor’s office says the move follows the City Charter. Others say it’s an attempt to oust “thorn in the side” members who have called for the panel to have more independence
Above: Police officers confer at 36th Street and Falls Road in Hampden. (Fern Shen)
Nearly every member of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board is in an expired term and must reapply for their positions, Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration announced last month.
City officials say this is a normal step designed to align PAB members’ four-year terms with the mayor’s.
Two board members, however, are raising the alarm at what they see as an attempt to politicize civilian oversight of the Baltimore Police Department. The announcement came amid an ongoing dispute over the PAB’s independence from City Hall.
And it echoes the themes raised by the Scott administration’s controversial efforts to curtail the powers of another watchdog entity, the Office of the Inspector General.
City Hall made the announcement at a July PAB meeting.
“Currently, every member of the board is in holdover status” except the mayor’s youth appointee, said Dana P. Moore, Scott’s senior advisor for boards and commissions. “You’re in terms that expired on December 3, 2024.”
That’s the date Scott’s first term in office ended. Moore did not explain the timing of the announcement, and gave PAB members two weeks to submit their applications if they wished to continue serving.
Scott is slated to send his appointments to the city council by September 9, according to a memo that Moore sent to PAB members.
Jesmond Riggins, a member of the PAB who has called for greater independence, said that he disagrees with the city’s interpretation of the law.
While most board and commission members have terms that align with the mayor’s, the PAB was authorized by state police reform legislation. Riggins believes his term should actually end in 2027.
Riggins, who is suing the city over his removal from the committee that decides disciplinary outcomes for police officers, said he believes the sudden reapplication process is part of an effort to exert greater control over the board.
“It appears the city is attempting to politicize the board and undermine its integrity and independence through what I believe is a misapplication of the law,” Riggins said.
Jesmond Riggins speaks in front of City Hall in November 2023. (WMAR)
Mayor’s Office: Charter is Clear
The 17-member PAB includes two people who are chosen by the mayor, including one youth member who must be between the ages of 18 and 25.
The remaining members are suggested by the city council for the mayor’s appointment, with one person for each council district and one for the city council president. The mayor can either accept those suggestions or provide a written justification for why he is not accepting the suggestion.
The members who are appointed by the mayor are also confirmed by city council before being sworn into office.
In an email, the mayor’s office said that the Law Department has “confirmed the terms of city board and commission members are coterminous with the mayor,” with a few exceptions that are explicitly outlined in the city charter. “Otherwise, the charter and state law are clear.”
The office declined to comment further, citing Riggins’ pending lawsuit in federal court.
The lawsuit claims that Riggins was removed from the Administrative Charging Committee, which reviews complaints against police officers that involve the public, in retaliation for public comments he made at a meeting of city council’s Public Safety Committee in November. The city has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
The Police Accountability Board receives guidance from the Law Department, which also defends police officers and the police department.
Riggins, who remains a member of the larger PAB, said he was removed from the charging committee 10 days after he testified in favor of greater independence for the board. The PAB is staffed by the city’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights and receives legal guidance from the Law Department.
The same department is also the city’s law firm and defends the Police Department when a police officer or the department is sued. Riggins and other advocates for greater PAB independence say that’s a conflict. Riggins points out that there’s been prior disagreements over whether the charging committee can subpoena the police department to compel information.
Mayor Brandon Scott and City Solicitor Ebony Thompson at a recent Board of Estimates meeting. (CharmTV)
Current Chair Sides with Scott
Joshua Harris, a member and former chair of the PAB, said the legislation that created the board was intended to make it different from every other commission in the city.
“When the mayor’s office screens who gets appointed, including the council appointees, that’s political interference, and it moves us further from independence, not closer,” Harris said.
“It’s a basic conflict of interest. The same office that hires and fires the police commissioner, and the same legal counsel that defends the police department, is now deciding who gets to hold them accountable,” Harris asserted.
“The same legal counsel that defends the police department is now deciding who gets to hold them accountable” – Joshua Harris, former PAB chair.
Jamal Turner, the current PAB chair, said the law is clear that board members’ terms are meant to be aligned with the mayor’s. Since most members of the board were appointed midway through Scott’s first term, when the PAB launched, the reapplication process is just an effort to coordinate the timeline.
“If there was an issue with it, then I am more than positive that a council person, whom most of the nominations come from, would say something,” Turner said.
“The legislation, to me, is clear as it relates to new mayors and new appointments,” he continued. “If it is within the purview of that mayor to appoint people, then that’s what happens.”
Members of city council must submit their recommendations to the mayor’s office by August 24, according to Moore’s memo.
Mayor Brandon Scott appoints Jamal Turner for a seat on Baltimore’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund Commission. (Instagram)
“Yes men” or “Resolute folks”?
District 4 Councilman Mark Conway said he had been informed “in passing” that the PAB members’ terms had expired, but had not received any official communications about it.
He noted that members of the PAB can remain in their seats until they either resign or are replaced, so current members could stay in place if no action is taken to replace them.
“These folks are not necessarily forced to step down immediately,” he said. “The administration has to work with the council members.”
He questioned the timing of the administration’s announcement to the PAB. The notification probably should have happened in early 2025, he said, not the summer of 2026.
“This very well could be a situation where there’s an attempt to clean out some of the folks that have maybe been a thorn in the side of the administration,” he said.
That’s why it’s important for council members to select “resolute folks” who will stand up to City Hall when necessary, he added.
“Trust becomes politicized if you get political hacks who can’t be honest with the police department or the administration” – Councilman Mark Conway.
The PAB has been a key ingredient in rebuilding trust between the Baltimore Police Department and the community, he said, which has contributed to the city’s stunning drop in homicides and other serious crimes.
The city is still healing from the death of Freddie Gray in 2015 and the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, so it’s critical that the PAB offers robust civilian oversight of the police department, he observed.
“If that trust becomes politicized, if you get political hacks or yes men,or people who can’t be honest with the police department or the administration, I think it all falls apart,” Conway said.
• Madeleine O’Neill is a freelance reporter in Baltimore.