Maryland has suspended home visits by parole and probation agents after an agent was killed last Friday in Montgomery County.

Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services leaders “just said that they're suspended now while they reevaluate,” said Rayneika Robinson, president of the branch of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union that represents parole and probation workers in Maryland. She said state leaders didn’t give a timeframe for restarting the visits.

“The department’s Intelligence and Investigative Division, along with the Warrant Apprehension Unit, will conduct an internal review regarding the case related to the murder of Agent Martinez,” a representative of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services wrote in an emailed statement. “In the meantime, similar to the model that the department employed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the department will pause in-home visits but will continue to conduct both virtual home visits and in-office visits until the internal review—including engagement with critical stakeholders—is complete.”

Agent Davis Martinez is the first agent to be killed in the line of duty in Maryland, according to the state.

Robinson and other union leaders say Martinez’s death could have been prevented.

“We've been crying for help,” Robinson said. “We don't feel safe doing home visits.”

The union is asking for increased staffing so that more than one agent can do home visits together. They also want the agency to reevaluate health and safety policies in partnership with the union.

Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland, said DPSCS has not changed its safety procedures in decades.

Robinson said her first line of defense at a home visit is pepper spray. Her second is a phone call for backup.

“For us as agents, it just doesn’t seem like enough,” she said.