Title 3. Law Enforcement — Subtitle 2. Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission

“Law enforcement agency” means a governmental police force, sheriff’s office, or security force or law enforcement organization of the State, a county, or a municipal corporation that by statute, ordinance, or common law is authorized to enforce the general criminal laws of the State.

“Law enforcement agency” does not include members of the Maryland National Guard who:

“Police officer” means an individual who:

“Police officer” includes:

“Police officer” does not include:

the President of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association;

the President of the Maryland Sheriffs Association;

the Attorney General of the State;

the Secretary of State Police;

the agent in charge of the Baltimore office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

one member representing the Maryland State Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police;

one member representing the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association;

the Chair of the Maryland Municipal League Police Executive Association;

the Police Commissioner of Baltimore City;

the President of the Police Chiefs’ Association of Prince George’s County;

a civilian representative from the Wor–Wic Program Advisory Committee – Criminal Justice; and

the following individuals, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate:

The term of an appointed member is 3 years.

The terms of the appointed members are staggered as required by the terms provided for members of the Commission on October 1, 2016.

At the end of a term, an appointed member continues to serve until a successor is appointed and qualifies.

A member who is appointed after a term has begun serves only for the remainder of the term and until a successor is appointed and qualifies.

may not receive compensation as a member of the Commission; but

is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget.

maintain minutes of its meetings and any other records that it considers necessary; and

provide information, on request, regarding the budget, activities, and programs of the Commission.

With the approval of the Governor, the Commission shall appoint an executive director.

The executive director shall perform general administrative and training management functions.

The executive director serves at the pleasure of the Commission.

The Commission shall appoint a deputy director and any other employees that the Commission considers necessary to perform general administrative and training management functions.

The deputy director and other employees appointed under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission.

the executive director and the deputy director; and

a Commission employee in a position that:

The Fund is a special, nonlapsing fund that is not subject to § 7–302 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.

The State Treasurer shall hold the Fund separately, and the Comptroller shall account for the Fund.

revenue distributed to the Fund under § 7–301 of the Courts Article;

money appropriated in the State budget to the Fund;

interest earnings of the Fund; and

any other money from any other source accepted for the benefit of the Fund.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Fund may be used only to provide funding to the Commission.

For fiscal years 2024 and 2025 only, the Fund may be used to support police and correctional training activities of the Commission.

The State Treasurer shall invest the money of the Fund in the same manner as other State money may be invested.

Any interest earnings of the Fund shall be credited to the Fund.

Expenditures from the Fund may be made only in accordance with the State budget.

Money distributed from the Fund shall be used to supplement, but not supplant, any other funding for the Commission.

to establish standards for the approval and continuation of approval of schools that conduct police entrance–level and in–service training courses required by the Commission, including State, regional, county, and municipal training schools;

to approve and issue certificates of approval to police training schools;

to inspect police training schools;

to revoke, for cause, the approval or certificate of approval issued to a police training school;

to establish the following for police training schools:

to require, for entrance–level police training and at least every 3 years for in–service level police training conducted by the State and each county and municipal police training school, that the curriculum and minimum courses of study include special training in, attention to, and study of the application and enforcement of:

to certify and issue appropriate certificates to qualified instructors for police training schools authorized by the Commission to offer police training programs;

to verify that police officers have satisfactorily completed training programs and issue diplomas to those police officers;

to conduct and operate police training schools authorized by the Commission to offer police training programs;

to make a continuous study of entrance–level and in–service training methods and procedures;

to consult with and accept the cooperation of any recognized federal, State, or municipal law enforcement agency or educational institution;

to consult and cooperate with universities, colleges, and institutions in the State to develop specialized courses of study for police officers in police science and police administration;

to consult and cooperate with other agencies and units of the State concerned with police training;

to develop, with the cooperation of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a uniform missing person report form to be available for use by each law enforcement agency of the State on or before October 1, 2008;

to require, for entrance–level police training and annually for in–service level police training conducted by the State and each county and municipal police training school, that the curriculum and minimum courses of study include, for police officers who are issued an electronic control device by a law enforcement agency, special training in the proper use of electronic control devices, as defined in § 4–109 of the Criminal Law Article, consistent with established law enforcement standards and federal and State constitutional provisions;

to require, for entrance–level police training and, as determined by the Commission, for in–service level training conducted by the State and each county and municipal police training school, that the curriculum and minimum courses of study include, consistent with established law enforcement standards and federal and State constitutional provisions:

to require, for entrance–level police training and at least every 2 years for in–service level police training conducted by the State and each county and municipal police training school, that the curriculum and minimum courses of study include special training in, attention to, and study of the application of antidiscrimination and use of force de–escalation training;

to develop, with the cooperation of the Office of the Attorney General, the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, and the Federal Trade Commission, a uniform identity fraud reporting form that:

to adopt and recommend a set of best practices and standards for use of force;

to evaluate and modernize recruitment standards and practices of law enforcement agencies to increase diversity within those law enforcement agencies and develop strategies for recruiting women and African American, Hispanic or Latino, and other minority candidates;

to develop standards for the mandatory psychological consultation with a law enforcement officer who was actively involved in an incident when another person was seriously injured or killed as a result of an accident or a shooting or has returned from combat deployment;

to require:

to perform any other act, including adopting regulations, that is necessary or appropriate to carry out the powers and duties of the Commission under this subtitle; and

to consult and cooperate with commanders of SWAT teams to develop standards for training and deployment of SWAT teams and of law enforcement officers who are not members of a SWAT team who conduct no–knock warrant service in the State based on best practices in the State and nationwide.

The Commission shall develop a system by which law enforcement agencies report to the Commission each serious officer–involved incident each year, including for each incident:

The Commission shall annually summarize the information submitted by law enforcement agencies and:

establish a Police Complaint Mediation Program to which a law enforcement agency may refer a nonviolent complaint made against a police officer out of the standard complaint process;

refer a complaint referred to the Program to voluntary mediation conducted by an independent mediation service; and

adopt regulations to implement the Program, including criteria concerning eligibility for referral of complaints.

The Commission shall develop best practices for the establishment and implementation of a community policing program in each jurisdiction.

The Commission shall develop a system by which each local law enforcement agency annually files a detailed description of the law enforcement agency’s community policing program.

The Commission shall annually:

The Commission shall develop a uniform citizen complaint process to be followed by each law enforcement agency.

The uniform complaint process shall:

a training program on matters relating to police procedures for individuals who intend to qualify to participate as a member of a trial board or administrative charging committee under Subtitle 1 of this title; and

a training program on matters relating to police training and standards for citizens who are appointed to serve as members of the Commission.

hold law enforcement agencies accountable for violations of the Use of Force Statute under § 3–524 of this title; and

work with the Comptroller and the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy to ensure that State grant funding is withheld from a law enforcement agency that violates the Use of Force Statute under § 3–524 of this title.

develop a test and training for implicit bias, subject to the availability of implicit bias testing standards that are generally accepted by experts in the field of police psychology;

require all law enforcement agencies to use the implicit bias test in the hiring process;

require all new police officers to complete implicit bias testing and training; and

require all incumbent police officers to undergo implicit bias testing and training on an annual basis.

The Commission shall develop a uniform citizen positive community feedback process to be followed by each law enforcement agency.

The uniform citizen positive community feedback process shall:

In this subsection, “correctional facility” means a State correctional facility and a local correctional facility, as defined in § 1–101 of the Correctional Services Article.

The Commission shall develop mental health wellness policies to be implemented in law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities in the State by:

On or before January 1, 2025, and each January 1 thereafter, the Commission shall report to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly on the status of the development and implementation of the policies described under paragraph (2) of this subsection and the effects of the policies.

annually review the report published by the Independent Investigations Division of the Office of the Attorney General under § 6–602 of the State Government Article; and

make any recommendations that the Commission determines are appropriate based on its review.

A county, a municipality, or a law enforcement agency of the State or a political subdivision of the State may not adopt a policy, other than the uniform policy developed by the Commission, regarding the use of face coverings by law enforcement officers.

A county, a municipality, or a law enforcement agency of the State or a political subdivision of the State may not adopt a policy, other than the uniform policy developed by the Commission, requiring the use of identification by law enforcement officers.

submits to a mental health screening by a licensed mental health professional;

submits to a physical agility assessment as determined by the Commission;

submits to a criminal history records check in accordance with § 3–209.1 of this subtitle; and

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.

“Applicant” means an individual who is seeking certification as a police officer.

“Central Repository” means the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

a complete set of legible fingerprints taken on forms approved by the Director of the Central Repository and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

the fee authorized under § 10–221(b)(7) of the Criminal Procedure Article for access to Maryland criminal history records; and

the processing fee required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history records check.

shall be confidential;

may not be redisseminated; and

may be used only for the licensing purpose authorized by this title.

the police officer’s law enforcement agency unreasonably failed to provide the police officer with the required training or assigned the police officer to special duty that prevented the police officer from completing the required training to achieve this certification; and

this failure is through no fault of the police officer.

On request of the police officer for a hearing under this section, the Commission shall hold a hearing.

For purposes of this subsection, the Commission shall follow the procedures required for a hearing board under the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights and the police officer is entitled to all of the rights provided under the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights.

the Commission shall stay the lapse of the certification until the police officer and the police officer’s law enforcement agency meet the training requirements of the Commission;

the police officer shall be retained in the police officer’s law enforcement agency at full pay pending the completion of the training; and

the Commission shall order the police officer’s law enforcement agency to pay all reasonable hearing costs and attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the action.

Subject to the hearing provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Commission may suspend or revoke the certification of a police officer if the police officer:

The Commission shall revoke the certification of a police officer who was:

Except as otherwise provided in Title 10, Subtitle 2 of the State Government Article, before the Commission takes any final action under subsection (a)(1) of this section, the Commission shall give the individual against whom the action is contemplated an opportunity for a hearing before the Commission.

The Commission shall give notice and hold the hearing in accordance with Title 10, Subtitle 2 of the State Government Article.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.

“Permanent appointment” means the appointment of an individual who has satisfactorily met the minimum standards of the Commission and is certified as a police officer.

“Police administrator” means a police officer who has been promoted to first–line administrative duties up to but not exceeding the rank of captain.

“Police supervisor” means a police officer who has been promoted to first–line supervisory duties.

An individual who applies for a position as police officer shall:

The hiring law enforcement agency shall certify to the Commission that the law enforcement agency has reviewed the applicant’s disciplinary record.

In this subsection, “nonfull-time police officer” means an individual who does not work in the law enforcement field at least 7 months during the calendar year.

The certification requirements of subsection (a) of this section do not apply to the nonfull-time police officers of a law enforcement agency that: