The Police Accountability Task Force of Howard County (PATF-HoCo) is a group of Howard County residents advocating to improve police transparency and accountability in Howard County.
Our priorities are:
Annual reporting of data related to law enforcement performance available to the public.
Remediation of the significant racial disparities that have existed for several years in Howard County law enforcement engagements with the community.
Enhanced powers for the Police Accountability Board.
Strengthening of the Police Body Worn Camera Program, by reversing the policy that allows officers involved in a critical incident (i.e., shooting or other use of force incident) to view BWC footage before being interviewed or writing a report.
See Our Priorities and our analysis of Howard County Law Enforcement Agency data for more information.
PATF-HoCo IS ACTIVELY SEEKING VOLUNTEERS TO ASSIST US WITH OUR MISSION. All volunteer help is welcome, even if you can give only a couple of hours a month. If you are interested in eliminating racial disparities in community policing, please contact us to learn more about our future campaigns and the volunteer opportunities we have available. Our email contact is: PATF.HoCo@GMail.com
In the spirit of accountability and transparency, PATF-HoCo created its first PAB Annual Performance Scorecard covering the Howard County Police Accountability Board's (PAB) performance in 2023. See the Scorecard below and go to PAB for more details on the creation of the Scorecard.
Significant factors in the assessment were:
PAB's lack of urgency in addressing the racial disparities in policing.
PAB's failure to communicate these disparities to the community and to HoCo leadership.
PAB's failure to take effective and timely action to advance its policy recommendations.
Scorecard Page ONLY 6-27-24.pdfScreen Recording 2023-12-14 at 11.27.36 AM.movWatch our December 12, 2023 Press Conference about racial disparities in Howard County Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) data.
PATF-HoCo December 2023.mp4Hear more about our concerns regarding racial disparities in Howard County LEA data.
Our Prior Campaigns (Click on campaign link for the latest update)
PATF-HoCo advocated for the implementation of a Howard County police body-worn camera (BWC) program and a best-practice BWC policy. After a concerted PATF-HoCo campaign, the BWC program was funded and approved for implementation in Howard County for FY2022.
PATF-HoCo researched BWC policy best practices and developed a set of key considerations for the effective implementation of a BWC program, which we shared with the County’s law enforcement leadership.
The County Executive introduced CB 83-2021 in October 2021 to establish a Police Accountability Board (PAB) for Howard County. This initial bill was seriously flawed. PATF-HoCo took on a leadership advocacy role to improve the bill. Due to our successful engagement with members of the County Council, several corrective amendments were introduced and adopted in February 2022 that better positioned the PAB to promote police accountability and transparency.
Coalition of Citizens and Community Organization Supporters
African American Coalition of Howard County
African American Community Roundtable
American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland
Chinese American Network for Diversity and Opportunity
Columbia Democratic Club
Howard County Citizens Association
Howard County Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Indivisible Howard County
Progressive Democrats of Howard County
Progressive Maryland
Our Coalition Partners represent an important group of community organizations who are advocates for a diverse array of progressive causes and viewpoints. PATF-HoCo does not automatically endorse all views and opinions of our Coalition Partners. Although our missions may be different, PATF-HoCo is grateful for the support we've received in regards to advancing accountability and transparency in community policing.