Governor Hogan signs Hopkins police bill into law
Reporting about the SGA, not a record of it: The Johns Hopkins News-Letter published this and the SGA did not write it, file it, or approve it. The archive holds it because the article itself uses the phrases “sga” and “student government”.
Summary
- This Johns Hopkins News-Letter article reports on Maryland’s approval of a law allowing Hopkins to create a private police force and on responses to the plan.
- The News-Letter reported that Governor Larry Hogan signed the bill, making Hopkins the first private university in Maryland authorized to have its own police force.
- The paper reported that the law would take effect July 1, 2019, followed by a multiyear implementation process and negotiations with Baltimore police.
- The article says the bill includes millions of dollars for Baltimore youth programs, limits the force to 100 employees and creates an accountability board.
- The reporter writes that students and community members continued opposing the plan, including a Garland Hall sit-in that had lasted 16 days; an SGA referendum found that 74.4 percent of respondents opposed the force.
- The article adds that SGA Executive Vice President Miranda Bannister urged the University to abandon the plan, while WAPP Chairwoman Jillian Aldebron said she planned to seek a referendum after collecting 69,132 signatures.