An outspoken member of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board is suing over his removal from a committee that decides disciplinary outcomes for police officers, a new escalation in a simmering fight over the independence of the city’s civilian oversight bodies.

Jesmond Riggins, an attorney who has repeatedly called for greater autonomy in police oversight, filed a lawsuit against the city in federal court.

He claims his removal from the Administrative Charging Committee, which reviews complaints against police officers that involve the public, was retaliation for his  comments at a public meeting of City Council’s Public Safety Committee in November.

Riggins remains a member of the Police Accountability Board, a larger body that makes policy recommendations and holds public meetings.

On November 14, 10 days after he testified in favor of greater independence before the Public Safety Committee, Riggins was removed from the Administrative Charging Committee, according to his lawsuit.

Riggins is not asking to be reinstated to the Administrative Charging Committee since his three-year term would have ended in May anyway.

But his lawsuit argues that his removal amounted to a constitutional violation that should be resolved by a judge.

“I made a decision based on principle to speak up and to defend something and to push for something I believe in,” Riggins said in an interview with The Brew.

Through a spokesperson, the city declined to comment on the pending litigation. Jamal Turner, who chairs the Police Accountability Board and replaced Riggins on the ACC, could not be reached for comment.

Law Department Control

At the heart of the lawsuit is a debate that has been brewing in Baltimore for years: how independent should the city’s civilian oversight boards be?

Both the current Police Accountability Board and a previous iteration, the now-defunct Civilian Review Board, have been staffed and funded through Baltimore’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights.

The city’s Law Department also advises the board on legal matters and examines cases before and after they go to the Administrative Charging Committee, according to Riggins’ lawsuit and testimony at the November hearing.

The Law Department is the city’s law firm, tasked with minimizing liability and defending the city when a police officer is sued. Riggins and other critics of the current system say it’s a conflict of interest for the Law Department to also counsel the city’s civilian police oversight boards.

“The Law Department’s goal is to protect the city,” Councilman Mark Conway said in November. “When you have disputes between entities within the city, it gets wonky.”

Conway chairs the Public Safety and Government Operations Committee, which heard from Riggins at the November hearing.

“For Baltimore’s police oversight system to work, it must not only be empowered, but it must be allowed to exercise the powers it is given by law,” Riggins told the committee.

He told The Brew there has been disagreement over whether the Administrative Charging Committee can subpoena the police department to compel information.

Historic Tension

Years ago, Riggins worked in the city’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights as a staffer supporting the Civilian Review Board, which was established by the state legislature in 1999.

Without independence from City Hall, the board slowly lost power and became overreliant on the city to function under then-Mayor Catherine Pugh, Riggins said.

The Civilian Review Board was sunset in 2025 and replaced with the new Police Accountability Board and Administrative Charging Committee, both of which were laid out in Maryland’s sweeping new police reform laws passed in 2021. Riggins said he hopes to help the new bodies avoid the Civilian Review Board’s fate.

Tension over the Police Accountability Board’s independence began almost immediately. In its second annual report, the PAB called for the establishment of an Office of Police Oversight and Accountability, a quasi-governmental entity that would provide operational support to the oversight boards and give them independence from the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights.

The PAB also called for greater transparency and control over its own funding in 2024. And at the Public Safety Committee hearing in November, Conway called the board a “watchdog whose leash remains in the hands of the mayor.”

Riggins wrote in his lawsuit that after his remarks to the committee, he faced pushback almost immediately. Days later, according to the lawsuit, the Law Department issued a memorandum concluding that the PAB chair had the authority to replace Riggins on the Administrative Charging Committee, since that seat was set aside for the PAB chair’s designee.

Another seat on the Administrative Charging Committee, which is designated for someone appointed by the mayor, remains vacant. The ACC handles hundreds of complaints each year and meets weekly.

Riggins argues in his lawsuit that he should have been allowed to finish his term and asks a federal judge to help determine the correct interpretation of city  law.