JHPD Draft Policies

After consulting with independent experts in progressive policing reform and benchmarking against the most reform-minded policing policies and procedures nationwide, the Johns Hopkins Police Department (JHPD) has developed draft policies to guide its day-to-day work.   

As part of our commitment to transparency, accountability, and community engagement, Johns Hopkins is launching a community-oriented feedback process. Both tranches of draft policies are now available for your review.

The first tranche was published on September 21 and its 60-day public comment period concluded on November 20, but we have extended the deadline by 30 days through December 20. The second tranche was published on November 30 and its 60-day public comment period will conclude January 29. 

Even after the public comment periods close, we continue to welcome your input and feedback via email to publicsafetyfeedback@jhu.edu or the JHPS feedback form, Contact Public Safety, as we review and update our policies on an ongoing basis. 

We are also excited to share the first Ask the Experts session, “University Policing, Policy, and Getting it Right” Ask the Expert sessions allow members of our community to engage on JHPD-specific policy questions before submitting their feedback. We hope this will serve as a helpful resource as you review draft policies. 

We remain dedicated to implementing policies that community advocates and leading experts have advanced in nationwide law enforcement reform efforts.   

Policy Feedback Process

We are seeking input from the community throughout the development and refinement of JHPD policies. In line with our commitment to community engagement and transparency, there are several opportunities for community input and participation throughout the process (see the timeline). 

At noon on April 27, 2023, Dr. Bard hosted a virtual forum to outline the policy development and feedback process. A forum recording is available on the Public Safety Virtual Events page. The presentation on the policy process can be found here.  

Before being available for public review and comment, all draft policies were shared with the JH Accountability Board. Board members were invited to provide feedback on the draft policies in writing and during the Board’s public meetings. After being shared with the JH Accountability Board, the draft policies were posted on this page for public review.

Our community will have the opportunity to hear from nationally recognized experts on progressive policing reforms and learn more about the draft policies during our “Ask the Expert” sessions. The first session, “University Policing, Policy, and Getting it Right”, features Dr Bard and Dr. Robin Engel, Senior Vice President at the National Policing Institute and a nationally respected criminologist who has spent more than two decades working in policing research designed to reduce harm in communities and make police-community encounters safer. A second “Ask the Experts” session focused on community questions and feedback on the second tranche of draft policies will be posted in the coming weeks. 

All the feedback obtained during this process will be documented and published in a report, along with the final policies, for everyone to access online.   

Outside experts, 21CP Solutions prepared the following questions to help prompt discussion of the draft policies. 

• Is this policy consistent with the values and needs of the community? 
• Does this policy help JHPD safely carry out its stated mission?  
• Is this policy understandable? Are there any points that need clarification? 
• Is there anything that needs to be addressed in this policy that isn’t currently reflected in the draft?  

Community Conversations

April 27, 2023 – Virtual Forum: JHPD Policy Development and Feedback Process

Dr. Bard, vice president of public safety, hosted a virtual forum to discuss the JHPD policy development and feedback process on April 27, 2023.   

• Recording: Public Safety Virtual Events page

October 26, 2023 – Johns Hopkins Accountability Board Annual Public Meeting (Draft Policies-Focused)

During the Johns Hopkins Accountability Board annual public meeting, community members shared their feedback about draft policies with the Accountability Board. 

• Virtual – Virtual Events

November 28, 2023 – Ask the Expert: “University Policing, Policy, and Getting it Right” (A Conversation with Dr. Robin Engel, Senior Vice President at the National Policing Institute)

A nationally known and highly respected criminologist, Dr. Engel serves as Senior Vice President at the National Policing Institute. She previously served as a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Director of the Center for Police Research and Policy. From 2015 to 2019, she served as UC’s Vice President for Safety and Reform, where her administrative duties included oversight of daily operations of the university’s public safety department and implementation of comprehensive police reforms.  

For more than two decades, Dr. Engel has worked to engage in policing research designed to reduce harm in communities and make police-community encounters safer, promoting best practices through academic-practitioner partnerships. She has served as Principal Investigator for over 90 studies and projects and was ranked among the top academics in the field of criminal justice and criminology based on publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Engel’s work includes establishing academic-practitioner partnerships in policing, with expertise in empirical assessments of police behavior, police use of force, police-minority relations, police supervision and management, criminal justice policies, criminal gangs, and crime reduction strategies. 

• Recording: Johns Hopkins YouTube Channel

Fall 2023 – Ask the Expert: “Discussion on Draft JHPD Policies”

• Location: TBD
• Time: TBD

Timeline [1] 

May 2023  

• May 31 – Conclusion of 2022-2023 Johns Hopkins Accountability Board term 

June 2023  

• June 1 – Start of 2023-2024 Johns Hopkins Accountability Board term  
• June 30 – Johns Hopkins Accountability Board New Member Orientation

September 2023  

• September 21 – Draft policies posted online for public comment

October 2023  

• October 26 – Johns Hopkins Accountability Board’s annual public meeting

November 2023 

• November 28 – Ask the Experts: University Policing, Policy, and Getting it Right 
• November 30 – Second tranche of draft policies posted online for public comment

December 2023 

• December 20 – Public comment period for first tranche of draft policies closes (due to 30 day extension)
• TBD- Ask the Experts: Discussion of community questions and feedback on the second batch of JHPD draft policies. 

January 2024

• January 29 – Public comment period for second tranche of draft policies closes

[1] Timeline and projected finalization of community-informed policies may be subject to change 

Review Draft Policies

If you’re ready to review the draft JHPD policies, click here. You will be taken to a webpage with a list of all the draft policies. The policies that are currently available for public comment will be hyperlinked to a PDF that includes a brief cover memo summarizing the policy and the full text of the policy.

The draft JHPD policies are based on examples of 21st-century best practices in public safety policy, identified through extensive benchmarking of university and municipal law enforcement agencies across the nation. Taken together, they represent a comprehensively progressive approach to policing that prioritizes equity, transparency, accountability, and community-based public safety strategies.

The draft policies were drafted to exceed the minimum requirements of the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Maryland, to align with the Community Safety and Strengthening Act (CSSA), and to fulfill the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Police Department.

Material that was considered in the drafting of these policies include: 

• Publicly available policies from municipal police departments that have undergone substantial reform efforts, including: New Orleans Police Department; Seattle Police Department; Portland Police Department; Detroit Police Department; Ferguson Police Department; and Baltimore Police Department;
• National guidance on best practices and model policies from criminal justice reform efforts, social science research centers, and civil rights organizations, including: the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), including the ACLU of Massachusetts’s “Racially Just Policing: Model Policies for Colleges and Universities”; the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF); U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office); The Justice Collaboratory (The JC) at Yale University Law School; and The Center for Innovation in Community Safety (CICS) at Georgetown Law School.
• National and local higher education institutions that are based in comparable environments and make policies publicly available, including: Carnegie Mellon University; Morgan State University; Towson University; University of Chicago; University of Cincinnati; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Pennsylvania; and Yale University.

To ensure that the proposed directives captured national best practices in community-focused public safety services, the development team collaborated with independent experts from the National Policing Institute (the Institute), a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing excellence in policing through research and innovation, and 21CP Solutions, an expert consulting team made up of former law enforcement personnel, academics, civil rights lawyers, and community leaders dedicated to advancing safe, fair, equitable, and inclusive public safety solutions. Each directive was reviewed by experts selected by both organizations, who provided feedback, suggestions, and edits that were fully incorporated into the current draft.

Finally, individuals and organizations representing the diversity of the University community provided feedback to ensure the policies and procedures reflect and respond to the values of our institution and to our community’s public safety service needs.