Status of Development of Johns Hopkins Police Department

June 10, 2020

We share the community’s anguish and anger regarding the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, and we join those across the nation demanding an end to racial injustice. This incident is one among far too many in a long and brutal history of grotesque, systemic racism against African Americans that has shaped this nation and so many of its cities, including our own.

In this painful moment, we hear and take to heart the renewed questions and concerns about policing in America and its implications for the establishment of a Johns Hopkins Police Department. Importantly, the JHPD does not yet exist. We committed to establishing this department through a slow, careful and fully open process. The only step taken to date has been the recent first meeting of the JHPD Accountability Board, which is composed of neighbors, faculty, staff, and students with diverse views about policing. No other steps are planned at this time, and we will be in close communication with the city and our university community before any further steps are taken.