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Ray Kelly on Baltimore police reform and the city's local control initiatives

The Baltimore Police Department has been a state-run agency since the 1860s. A new Maryland law allows the city to seek full control of the BPD through a 2022 ballot initiative that would amend the City Charter. (AP file photo by Patrick Semansky)
The Baltimore Police Department has been a state-run agency since the 1860s. A new Maryland law allows the city to seek full control of the BPD through a 2022 ballot initiative that would amend the City Charter. (AP file photo by Patrick Semansky)

Tom's next guest today is a long-time advocate for police reform. Ray Kelly is the former director of the No Boundaries Coalition, which works on behalf of people in the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor in West Baltimore. Ray was a leader of the West Baltimore Commission on Police Misconduct. He also served as the chair of the Community Oversight Task Force, which was mandated by the 2017 consent decree with the Justice Department to oversee police misconduct complaints.

Ray C. Kelly is a veteran community organizer, police reform activist, and executive director of the Citizens Policing Project.
Ray C. Kelly is a veteran community organizer, police reform activist, and executive director of the Citizens Policing Project. (courtesy CPP)

Ray now serves as the Executive Director of the Citizens Policing Project, and he was appointed by Mayor Brandon Scott to be on the Local Control Advisory Board, a group of about a dozen community leaders that will map the process of returning control of the Baltimore Police Department to the city. It has been largely under state control since the mid-1860s.

Ray Kelly joins us on Zoom…

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Host, Midday (M-F 12:00-1:00)
Rob is a contributing producer for Midday.