The Independent Investigations Division of the Attorney General’s Office has released its first full-year report on progress, protocols and complications of the new law.
The Independent Investigations Division (IID) was established by Maryland law in 2021 and was further refined during the 2022 legislative session. The office is tasked with investigating any officer-involved incident resulting in the death or imminent fatality of a civilian and is led by Dana Mulhauser, Chief of the IID. From October 1st, 2021 to September 30th, 2022 the division responded to and has investigated 23 officer-involved incidents. The online dashboard currently lists 25 incidents to date.
Both the dashboard and the report include metrics on variables across all 23 cases including demographics on officers and the civilians involved as well as external considerations such as drugs/alcohol and mental health concerns. Summaries are also provided of each individual incident. So far 11 reports appear to be published on the website including information on the status of each case, links to corresponding press releases, and body camera footage.
An extensive appendix includes internal procedural protocols for investigations as well as detailed expectations of local law enforcement agencies with regards to addressing the media, securing scenes and evidence, dealing with witnesses, etc.
