The Prince George鈥檚 County Council on Monday approved a plan to publicize the nominations process and 鈥渓istening sessions鈥� for the nominees to the Maryland county鈥檚 Police Accountability Board.
At a virtual meeting called during the council鈥檚 recess, members agreed to the plan to publicize the nominations process, but several voiced concerns about transparency and the opportunity for public input.
The state-mandated board will consist of five members nominated by the council and six members 鈥� including the chair 鈥� nominated by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
During the public comment portion of Monday鈥檚 council meeting, Lorena Diaz, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, was concerned about whether systems were in place “to ensure all applications are given due consideration.鈥�
Dannielle Glaros, the council member whose district includes Riverdale Park, New Carrollton and Landover Hills, expressed concern regarding potential confusion, given that there are two places one could apply to be on the board: 鈥淚 think this could be really confusing to the public, to have two different processes moving forward.鈥�
She also expressed concern that the public might not get adequate notification of deadlines for applying: 鈥淚 think we need to be clear about how long this has to be advertised before the nominations closed.鈥�
Council member Jolene Ivey commented that the council had in previous sessions 鈥減unted鈥� on moving ahead with the process, putting pressure on the members to act.
County council administrator Robert Williams Jr. told the council members, 鈥淭he council should be reminded, we have a very, very tight window for both the PAB process鈥� and the creation of an administrative charging committee. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to get that done before the council recesses again on Oct. 25.”
Along with Diaz, from the ACLU of Maryland, county resident John Spillane spoke during the public comment section of the meeting, telling the council that it should create 鈥渃ommunity oversight鈥� for the membership selection process. 鈥淭he current resolution as written, doesn鈥檛 do that. In my opinion, it鈥檚 too vague,鈥� Spillane said.
