Press Release - May 19, 2026

The Police Accountability Task Force

of Howard County (PATF-HoCo)

PRESS RELEASE | COLUMBIA, MD | MAY 19, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PATF-HoCo, a Community Group Active on Police Accountability Issues in Howard County, has Released its 2025 Annual Assessment of the Performance of the Howard County Police Accountability Board (PAB) in Executing its Core Mission of Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in Policing in Howard County.

PATF-HoCo’s Assessment is that the PAB has Failed Across All Six Oversight Categories and that the PAB’s Overall Performance has Further Declined in 2025 from Prior Years.

COLUMBIA, MD – May 14, 2026 – The Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County (PATF-HoCo) has released its 2025 performance assessment for the Howard County Police Accountability Board (PAB), concluding that the Board failed to take any meaningful actions to advance police transparency, accountability, or public oversight during the past year.

PATF-HoCo has shared its PAB performance scorecard with County Executive Dr. Ball, as well as with each County Council member and also HCPD leadership. The PAB scorecard is available for review on PATF-HoCo’s website.

The PAB’s failures are particularly troubling at a time when Maj. Terrence Benn, the new interim Chief of Police in Howard County, has declared his commitment to accountability and transparency in policing.

The PAB Scorecard highlights that the PAB’s performance, deemed unacceptable in 2023 and 2024, has now deteriorated even further in 2025 and has been found to be unsatisfactory across all six performance metrics evaluated in our scorecard.

Most concerning is the PAB’s continuing failure to gather, analyze, or publicly report meaningful racial demographic policing data despite being aware of the significant racial disparities in Howard County policing outcomes since 2023. During the last year, the PAB failed to request or analyze comprehensive 2024 demographic data concerning arrests, traffic stops, use of force incidents, or other key policing interactions.

The PAB also failed to advance meaningful action related to its own prior recommendation to pursue an independent third-party review of the significant racial disparities in policing.

In the absence of meaningful action by the PAB, PATF-HoCo independently obtained and analyzed substantial amounts of LEA demographic data across multiple years—primarily through Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests—and shared significant racial disparity findings with the PAB. Despite being made aware of these significant racial disparities in policing, the PAB still took no meaningful action in 2025 to investigate root causes, pursue independent analysis, or recommend corrective measures.

PATF-HoCo has provided County leadership with a set of key recommendations intended to strengthen transparency, accountability, public engagement, and independent oversight in Howard County policing. These recommendations include:

Howard County now needs mandatory annual public reporting.
HCPD and the Sheriff’s Office must be legally required to publish racial and ethnic data for arrests, juvenile referrals, and use of force.
An independent expert study is essential.
Only a third-party analysis can identify the causes driving these racial disparities and recommend evidence-based reforms.
Real accountability means real transparency.
The Police Accountability Board must be required to request, analyze, and publicly report on policing data, so this never happens in silence again.

In commenting on the PAB’s performance failures, Ted Stewart of PATF-HoCo said, “This was not a lack of data available to the PAB. The PAB has been fully informed of the significant racial disparities in policing in Howard County spanning many years. This was an intentional lack of action by the PAB.”

Media Contacts:

James Gormley

PATF-HoCo Member

Email: PATF.HoCo@Gmail.com

Ted Stewart

PATF-HoCo Member

Email: PATF.HoCo@Gmail.com

*Full Data Analysis and Interviews are Available*