Question H: Baltimore Police Dept.

The police department in Baltimore is largely under Maryland state control — right now the city controls the budget but not the policy. With this change city residents can advocate for changes locally rather than having to travel to Annapolis to testify, for example.[1]

Supported by Ashiah Parker (head of No Boundaries Coalition), Councilman Dorsey, Mayor Scott, Jews United for Justice and many others [2][3]

Pro: local control could theoretically lead to a more accountable department.

Con: the main “con” promoted is that this could lead to city council managing the police more directly. the Abell Foundation words this in a faux-neutral ominous tone in their analysis but gives no convincing tangible reasons for this to be a negative[4]

This won’t resolve police department dysfunction, but it will remove one of the most common excuses against reform. The wording of this measure is confusing but the change is a reasonable one — place the city’s police under city rather than state control

i’m in FAVOR of Question H

Thanks to Sharon Neely, Jeremy Neal and others with help on resources and analysis of this question

to support local over state control of journalism: https://www.patreon.com/allsortsofthings

References:

[1] League of Women Voters Maryland VOTE411 Voter Guide https://onyourballot.vote411.org

[2] Baltimore Sun’s “Baltimore’s Question H says it would ‘establish’ a city police department. What does that mean?” Emily Opilo, Oct 13, 2022 https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/elections/bs-md-pol-baltimore-local-control-ballot-question-20221013-jnkeck73d5e7vbvbllqskxkuae-story.html

[3] Jews United for Justice “For Question H in Baltimore City” https://jufj.org/election-2022/#1665080968325-9c33007a-6650

[4] The Abell Report — “The Baltimore Police Department: Understanding its status as a state agency” George A. Nilson, March 2019 https://abell.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Abell20Baltimore20Police20Department20Report.pdf