Opinion: Hypocrisy and Irony regarding HB433: Expanding the Freedom to Serve Act

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The hypocrisy and irony inherent in HB433: Expanding the Freedom to Serve Act, sponsored by David Fraser-Hidalgo and Cheryl Kagan, are too blatant to go unchecked.

The bill states, “There is an ongoing shortage of police officers in our communities. The Freedom to Serve Act will significantly increase the potential candidates of law enforcement applicants [sic] while building trust within our communities.”

It neglects to acknowledge that Maryland State and Montgomery County elected officials have firmly aligned with Silver Spring Justice Coalition whose mission is literally to reduce the presence of police in our communities. That cannot be reconciled with this alleged concern over a shortage of police officers. Do elected officials stand with the activists in their mission to reduce the presence of police in our communities, or are they seeking to hire more officers? Both cannot be true.

It further neglects to acknowledge that the reason for any perceived “mistrust” is the anti-police rhetoric that Maryland State and Montgomery County elected officials have been spewing for 2+ years based solely on activities that happened in other jurisdictions. Data has not been shown to suggest that the Montgomery County Police Department is systemically racist. In fact, a recent independent audit found that Montgomery County officers generally behave professionally, courteously and without bias. (If a complaint is filed against an officer to the contrary, body-worn camera footage can be reviewed. If the complaint is legitimate, the officer should be held accountable. If the complaint is frivolous, the complainant should be held accountable.)

Maryland was the first state to repeal the police bill of rights, which stripped officers of due process. Then-Governor Hogan said this repeal “will result in great damage to police recruitment and retention, posing significant risks to public safety…” That is exactly what has come to pass in Montgomery County, and it is precisely the reason that bills like HB 433 now have to be put forth. (As a Democrat, admitting that Hogan was right gives me no pleasure.)

State Del. Vanessa Atterbeary asserted that Hogan “doesn’t stand with Black & Brown people in the state.” Now, crime continues to rise in MoCo and is disproportionately impacting Black and Brown people. If she has expressed outrage at that fact, I haven’t heard it. Shameful.

Maryland State legislators then slapped officers in the face by voting to allow police killers the possibility of parole. The message they sent was clear. Who would sign on for a career in which those in leadership, who should support and work WITH police for the betterment of the community, choose instead to express disdain and a lack of appreciation and respect for those who have sworn to serve and protect? The bias that elected officials hold against law enforcement is ironic and tragic.

The Use of Force mandates from the state and county differ. What does an officer do with that? If the county doesn’t find them guilty, the state will. And vice versa. We are left with a police department that has been forced to be reactive rather than proactive. And crime is rising. What a surprise.

The push to abrogate qualified immunity (bill sponsored by Jheanelle Wilkins) creates this situation: If an officer suspects a driver of being impaired and attempts to pull him over and the driver crashes, the driver can sue the officer. The officer will then go before one of the myriad civilian “police accountability” boards that — let’s be honest — are made up primarily of anti-police activists (serving on publicly-funded bodies, which is another issue altogether; some of these “volunteers” are even generously compensated). Most of the members of these bodies have no knowledge, experience or expertise in policing. Yet, they will stand in judgement of those who wear a bullet-proof vest and leave their families every day, putting their lives on the line to honor their oath to protect and serve. So an officer, suspecting a driver of being impaired, actually has to choose between trying to get the driver off the road in order to protect others — but in doing so may lose everything — or looking the other way and hoping for the best. And if the worst happens, the officer must live with the knowledge that they could have done something but elected officials made it untenable to do so. That’s the other side of the coin that elected officials don’t want to turn over; they only want to look at one side because the other doesn’t serve their agenda. They’re willing to sacrifice innocent lives as a tradeoff.

Over a three-year period, Montgomery County Police confiscated 144 illegal guns as a result of stops for “minor” traffic violations. Now the civilian Policing Advisory Commission recommends that police no longer stop drivers for “minor” infractions. That means those 144 illegal guns would still be in circulation. That is not acceptable to me; it is a dereliction of duty if it is acceptable to elected officials. There is a lack of understanding that many criminals who would otherwise escape are arrested because they violated a traffic law. Criminals travel to and from crime scenes, and they carry evidence of crimes in the cars they occupy. Further, they are not inclined to obey traffic laws. This means that effective traffic law enforcement can be a critical way of detecting crime, intercepting fleeing criminals, and preventing crime. Until elected officials care more about the safety of their constituents than they do about vilifying police, crime will continue to rise.

Contrary to the image the bill’s sponsors are seeking to put forth, this bill does veterans no favor. OF COURSE they should be allowed to apply to become a police officer. The question is why they would WANT to. They would be signing on to be part of a system that is demonized by elected officials. Politicians have set police up to be damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They have made it so police can do everything lawfully and in good faith, and still lose everything.

This bill may be an attempt at a creative way to try to stem the damage that the sponsors and their colleagues have caused, but it is probably too little, too late. The toothpaste is out of the tube. Hogan called it. If any Maryland State Democratic legislators and the Montgomery County executive and councilmembers had an ounce of integrity, they would own it. They would look in a mirror and speak the buzzwords they so often direct toward others: transparency, accountability, humility. THAT would be a first step in the right direction. That would be leadership. Is even one of them willing to stand up? Or will they keep doubling down on this charade in which the people they pretend to care about are the ones who are being harmed the most?

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