While the Montgomery County Council changed the name of the Policing Advisory Commission to the Community Advisory Commission on Public Safety on Tuesday, the body’s role will remain mostly the same.
Bill 32-23, sponsored by councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), proposed amendments to how the commission functions, including the name change, in hopes of preventing confusion between the commission and the state-mandated Police Accountability Board (PAB).
The council also voted Tuesday afternoon to clarify that the body “is responsible for advising the County Council on certain policing matters and is not an oversight body of the Police Department,” according to the legislation packet.
Additionally, “the Commission does not consider policing matters relative to police misconduct and discipline that are within the scope of the PAB.”
“It’s really important for us to remember why this commission was formed in the first place, to make sure that we have citizens’ voices, and to also make sure that we create a time and place for us to have some really emotionally charged conversations in a way that’s productive and helpful for this body to advise us on various matters,” councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) said during deliberations on Tuesday.
An original version of the bill would’ve eliminated a requirement to have one person age 25 or younger and one person between the ages of 25 and 35 serve on the body. After young people turned out in droves to a Sept. 19 public hearing to oppose the change, Luedtke restored the roles in the bill.
“We urge the council to listen to its constituents, especially the ones that are most vulnerable to experiencing police misconduct,” Amyra Hasan, campaign organizer with Young People for Progress, a social justice organization aimed at engaging Montgomery County residents younger than age 35, said at the hearing. “Young people are being arrested at rates far exceeding their population in the county, yet they are not considered in decision-making bodies.”
The youth and young adult members of the commission will be nominated by County Executive Marc Elrich (D).
Every councilmember will be tasked with nominating one member of the public to represent their district. While this was the existing practice, Luedtke proposed an amendment to require the entire council to nominate each candidate. The amendment failed in a 6-5 vote.
The entire council will still have to approve each nominated member for appointment, which councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) said serves as a system of checks and balances.
“I think that if we’re looking for diversity in various ways that this has been a relatively effective way of doing it,” Mink said. “That is the check and balance that we’re looking for and ensuring that there is conversation amongst colleagues about what our priorities are as a body and about finding the right balance.”
The council did adopt language to note that diversity amongst board members should be prioritized when making appointments. This not only applies to race, but also to geography – several councilmembers pointed out that the previous body had a disproportionate number of Silver Spring residents.
“The fact there were five members from Silver Spring is crazy,” said Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6). “Where that person [that is being nominated] lives, matters.”
The bill established term limits of two consecutive three-year terms for each member.
Commission members will also be required to participate in citizen training with the police department in order to serve. The council broadened the scope of types of trainings that commission members could participate in for accessibility purposes. These may include citizen participation in Police Academy days, public forums and ridealongs.
The changes to the body came after Luedtke withdrew a piece of legislation in July that would’ve repealed the commission.
A bill establishing the PAC passed in December 2019 and went into effect in March 2020. Because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, members weren’t appointed until July 2020. Those members’ terms expired on July 31. The PAC’s role is to advise the council and county executive on police accountability issues.
In April 2021, the Maryland General Assembly amended the Maryland Public Safety Article to require each county to have a police accountability board. Montgomery County passed a resolution in May 2022 in accordance with state law to establish the board. Members of the Police Accountability Board were appointed on June 28, 2022, to terms that started July 1, 2023. The board is fully staffed with an executive director.
“The members of the PAC felt very strongly about having this space,” Luedtke told MoCo360 in July after she withdrew the legislation.
Expedited Bill 27-23, co-sponsored by Luedtke and councilmember Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), sought to repeal the commission and to clarify the work of police accountability in the county.
However, after hearing from members of the commission, community members and other councilmembers who opposed the repeal at a public hearing in June, Luedtke said she decided it would be a better approach to instead amend the commission.