2010 Maryland Code
PUBLIC SAFETY
TITLE 3 - LAW ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle 5 - Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 3-507 - Report on SWAT team activation and deployment.

§ 3-507. Report on SWAT team activation and deployment [Section subject to abrogation].
 

(a)  Definitions.-  

(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 

(2) "Law enforcement agency" means an agency that is listed in § 3-101(e) of this title. 

(3) "Law enforcement officer" means any person who, in an official capacity, is authorized by law to make arrests and who is an employee of a law enforcement agency that is subject to this section. 

(4) "Police Training Commission" means the unit within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services established under § 3-202 of this title. 

(5) "SWAT team" means a special unit composed of two or more law enforcement officers within a law enforcement agency trained to deal with unusually dangerous or violent situations and having special equipment and weapons, such as rifles more powerful than those carried by regular police officers. 

(b)  In general.- Every 6 months, beginning January 1, 2010, a law enforcement agency that maintains a SWAT team shall report the following information to the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention using the format developed under subsection (c) of this section: 

(1) the number of times the SWAT team was activated and deployed by the law enforcement agency in the previous 6 months; 

(2) the name of the county or county and municipal corporation and the zip code of the location where the SWAT team was deployed for each activation; 

(3) the reason for each activation and deployment of the SWAT team; 

(4) the legal authority, including type of warrant, if any, for each activation and deployment of the SWAT team; and 

(5) the result of each activation and deployment of the SWAT team, including: 

(i) the number of arrests made, if any; 

(ii) whether property was seized; 

(iii) whether a forcible entry was made; 

(iv) whether a weapon was discharged by a SWAT team member; and 

(v) whether a person or domestic animal was injured or killed by a SWAT team member. 

(c)  Development of standardized format.- The Police Training Commission, in consultation with the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, shall develop a standardized format that each law enforcement agency shall use in reporting data to the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention under subsection (b) of this section. 

(d)  Timing for compiling data.- A law enforcement agency shall: 

(1) compile the data described in subsection (b) of this section for each 6-month period as a report in the format required under subsection (c) of this section; and 

(2) no later than the 15th day of the month following the 6-month period that is the subject of the report, submit the report to: 

(i) the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention; and 

(ii) 1. the local governing body of the jurisdiction served by the law enforcement agency that employs the SWAT team that is the subject of the report; or 

2. if the jurisdiction served by the law enforcement agency that employs the SWAT team that is the subject of the report is a municipal corporation, the chief executive officer of the jurisdiction. 

(e)  Analysis and summaries of reports.-  

(1) The Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention shall analyze and summarize the reports of law enforcement agencies submitted under subsection (d) of this section. 

(2) The Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention shall submit a report of the analyses and summaries of the reports of law enforcement agencies described in paragraph (1) of this subsection to the Governor, the General Assembly as provided in § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, and each law enforcement agency before September 1 of each year. 

(f)  Report of noncompliance.-  

(1) If a law enforcement agency fails to comply with the reporting provisions of this section, the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention shall report the noncompliance to the Police Training Commission. 

(2) On receipt of a report of noncompliance, the Police Training Commission shall contact the law enforcement agency and request that the agency comply with the required reporting provisions. 

(3) If the law enforcement agency fails to comply with the required reporting provisions of this section within 30 days after being contacted by the Police Training Commission with a request to comply, the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the Police Training Commission jointly shall report the noncompliance to the Governor and the Legislative Policy Committee of the General Assembly. 
 

[2009, chs. 542, 543.]