<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[The Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County (PATF-HoCo) ]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County (PATF-HoCo) is a group of like-minded community activists who are all long-term residents of the county. We organized in the summer of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, to take action within Howard County to address issues and concerns around racial inequality/disparities in policing.]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 11:19:51 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.patf-hoco.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[When Oversight Fails, the Public Must Know: PATF-HoCo Launches Media Campaign (January 14, 2026)]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County (PATF-HoCo) finds a 3-year pattern of racial and ethnic disparities in policing by the Howard County Police Department: for example, data reveals African American residents are twice as likely to get pulled over for a traffic stop, while representing only 20% of the Howard County population. ]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/post/when-oversight-fails-the-public-must-know-patf-hoco-launches-media-campaign-january-14-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699f6a70c315cca7cad16cb9</guid><category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:33:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d5e504_91ab86acc65f4646899b28bc0347a820~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>PATF-HOCO</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Advocates say Howard County’s police accountability board is failing]]></title><description><![CDATA[When Howard County set up its Police Accountability Board, community advocates hoped the body would take on thorny issues about how the county police interact with Black people.]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/post/advocates-say-howardcounty-s-policeaccountability-board-is-failing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69967a3e7b02767d86632a5c</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d5e504_5a5bdf6d03184b49bd2aa7eb7172375a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_990,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>PATF-HOCO</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Show Us The Data]]></title><description><![CDATA[“We are fortunate here in Howard County,” a County Council member once said to

a member of our Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County. “We don’t

have the kind of incidents that plague other police departments across our

nation.” At times, we’ve heard the same refrain repeated in our community. To

this, our response has been - show us the data.]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/post/show-us-the-data</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6996742b658df599f4fd162d</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 Dec 2023 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d5e504_88b8ac4c759a4745b69687d96f23a497~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>PATF-HOCO</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Howard County Council Approves Police Accountability Board Bill]]></title><description><![CDATA[“They Got Some Things Right, But…”



The creation of a Police Accountability Board (PAB) in Howard County (in 2022) was mandated by the Maryland Police Accountability Act (MPAA) of 2021.  The MPAA, amongst other things, requires the newly-created PABs to:





 work with Law Enforcement Agencies and County Government to improve matters of policing and to add a new layer of police accountability.



engage the community in matters of policing.]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/post/howard-county-council-approves-police-accountability-board-bill</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69966dd87b02767d86630888</guid><pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d5e504_e7df52b8f92d47fbb137a2323cbc73cc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>PATF-HOCO</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Howard County Citizens Still Urging Greater Transparency in the Establishment of a Police Accountability Board]]></title><description><![CDATA[[Howard County, MD] The Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 requires the establishment of a Police Accountability Board in Howard County which is required, amongst other things, to “work with Law Enforcement Agencies and County Government to improve matters of policing.” And yet, the Ball Administration’s Bill no 83-2021 to establish the Police Accountability Board (which is currently scheduled for a County Council vote on Tuesday January 4, 2022) falls far short of the laudable goal of t]]></description><link>https://www.patf-hoco.com/post/howard-county-citizens-still-urging-greater-transparency-in-the-establishment-of-a-police-accountabi</link><guid isPermaLink="false">699672bc658df599f4fd134c</guid><pubDate>Mon, 03 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d5e504_79fe25fa85e241a59c363c185120a584~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>PATF-HOCO</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>