WHO WE ARE

The Maryland Coalition for Justice & Police Accountability (MCJPA) is a large, diverse, statewide coalition of 100+ organizations united to demand impactful police reform.

After Freddie Gray was killed by police in 2015, numerous pieces of legislation to address the issue of policing were introduced in the 2016 and subsequent sessions of the General Assembly. But these reforms were not enough. They did not get to the heart of the structural problems blocking police accountability. In 2021, after the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, House Speaker Adrienne Jones appointed the Workgroup to Address Police Reform and Accountability.

Meanwhile, MCJPA got organized. The coalition includes individuals and family members who have been impacted by police violence, civil rights activists, religious leaders, legal experts, and advocates for a whole host of groups lead by Black and Brown people, came together to agree on five reforms that we believe would make a real difference in police practices in Maryland.