Maryland Delegates Ask Gov. Larry Hogan Ban Police Use Of Chokeholds
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Maryland's House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and the Democratic delegation sent a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan asking him to ban police use of chokeholds and implement various measures of police reform.
"This is not a partisan issue: I don't care who gets the credit. We need to start implementing policing changes now," said Speaker Jones wrote in the letter. "With the stroke of the pen, Governor Hogan has the power to save someone's life today."
READ: Governor Hogan Policing Letter
The legislators specifically asked the Governor to immediately:
- Ban the use of chokeholds;
- Require that deadly force is only used to "stop an imminent threat of death or seriously bodily injury to the officer or a citizen;[1]
- Require a duty to intervene for those police officers who see another officer using unnecessary force;
Implement an early warning system to identify incidents involving use of force and immediately re-train that officer; - Ban shooting at vehicles,
- Require that every officer within a State law enforcement agency sign an affirmative written sanctity of life pledge.
- Speaker Jones announced the creation of the House Police Reform and Accountability Workgroup earlier this month to look at comprehensive statutory changes to improve transparency and implement new requirements to prevent police misconduct. Vice Chair Vanessa Atterbeary will chair the House Workgroup.
