Scott And Harrison Testify In Support Of Bill Requiring Notification Of Pretrial Release
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on Wednesday testified in support of a bill requiring the correctional system to notify Baltimore Police if defendants are released pretrial.
Under Senate Bill 586, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services would have to notify the Baltimore Police Department if a defendant is released on bail, regardless of the charge.
The bill initially applied to the entire state and covered defendants accused of certain violent charges. One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Cory McCray (D-District 45), proposed amendments to limit the scope to Baltimore City and shift the onus from the courts to the correctional system. The amendment also removed the list of applicable charges, meaning police would be notified of any defendant released on bond.
A notification would be required within 48 hours of release if the law is passed.
Multiple committee members raised concerns about including all people released on bond.
Prince George's County Sen. Ronald Watson (D-District 23) asked if the legislation would unintentionally put people under surveillance. In the school system, Watson said, the staff has to be notified if a student who committed a violent act is being transferred to their institution.
"When that staff is notified, a variety of things can take place, but the most egregious is that somebody is literally walking around behind this kid as if he's in the store, waiting for him to shoplift so they can pick him up," Watson said.
The mayor said the notifications will be handled in a constitutional way, following the police department's consent decree with the Justice Department.
"I have no doubt that the commissioner and his team will do it the right way," Scott said.
Harrison reiterated that the focus will be on violent offenders. "This is not about surveillance of an individual who is released on bail," he said. Police will use the information to inform deployment strategies to protect victims and witnesses. He said it might even protect the people out on bail, saying there have been multiple instances where people out on pretrial release have become victims of retaliatory crimes.
Baltimore County Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-District 11) questioned if the department had enough resources.
"You're sweeping a lot of people into that category now, and I'm just sort of wondering why and how that decision was made," she asked.
The correctional department said, on average, between 30 to 50 people are released on bond per day, McCray replied
Harrison added: "It's fairly easy for us to build protocols. Now, while there are a large number of people being released, the number of people being released for those violent offenses that we would consider violent crimes is a much, much smaller number."
Baltimore Sen. Jill Carter (D-District 41) noted that, before a trial, defendants out on bail are "cloaked in a presumption of innocence," and a judge has determined they are not a significant flight risk or threat to public safety threat.
"You still want to be able to track them?" she asked.
McCray, chair of the Baltimore City Senate Delegation, counted that the bill brings the city in alignment with the rest of the state.
"I never looked at it as a surveillance tactic," he said. "We're providing our folks with a level playing ground that all the other 23 jurisdictions already have, to make sure specifically--and what the intent was--the most heinous crimes are being looked at, and folks know."
McCray went on to say community members will ask him at meetings how a violent offender has been released, and he will call police and they won't know.
"But folks should know if a person has committed a crime in that neighborhood, especially these heinous crimes, that they're coming back to the neighborhood," he said.
Speaking outside the Maryland State House on Wednesday, Scott said the information is key, especially when someone is arrested in a jurisdiction where they do not live and then released.
"We know that our residents want to know that information. We know that witnesses want to know that information," he said. "And, in order for us to have a safer city and safer neighborhoods, we need to share that information."
Scott began discussing the proposal with McCray as early as last summer.
Along with McCray, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-District 46) and Sens. Antonio Hayes (D-District 40) and Mary Washington (D-District 43) are all co-sponsors.
According to a fiscal and policy note attached to the bill, current state law requires victims to be notified if a defendant is released, but "no provisions in statute currently address the type of notification required under the bill."
Scott said earlier this month the proposal was one of several crime-fighting measures he discussed in a "productive" meeting with Gov. Larry Hogan.
