Baltimore City Policing: Priorities for Reform

In 2017, the City of Baltimore entered a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This court-enforceable agreement resulted from the DOJ’s finding of misconduct and constitutional violations within the Baltimore City Police Department.

The Consent Decree requires a number of changes in the way police interact with people with mental illness and substance use disorder. A Collaborative Planning and Implementation Committee (CPIC) has been formed to command the process and is reviewing police policies, data collection tools and processes, and training protocol. In addition, a gap analysis has been conducted of the behavioral health system in the city which will be used to guide implementation of needed services that allow police to divert people with behavioral health disabilities away from the criminal justice system.

Please join the Maryland Philanthropy Network’s Health Funders for a conversation about alternative policing strategies for behavioral health. We will receive an overview of the behavioral health components of the Consent Decree, and discuss the potential alternatives needed in the system of care to promote diversion. We will hear from Crista Taylor, President and CEO of Behavioral Health System Baltimore, Terry Hickey, from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, and Lieutenant Colonel Monique Brown of the Baltimore City Police Department’s Neighborhood Patrol Division – the CPIC leaders.

This program is for Maryland Philanthropy Network members and invited guests only; lunch will be served.