The ACLU of Maryland on Wednesday pulled back the curtain on an upcoming analysis that it says should worry anyone paying attention to public safety in the state. From 2015 through 2023, 143 people died after encounters with police across Maryland, a tally advocates say exposes stubborn gaps in transparency and accountability. According to the preview, the deaths fell disproportionately on Black and Latino Marylanders, and nearly half involved someone in the middle of a mental-health crisis. Families and civil-rights groups say the findings crank up the pressure on lawmakers and prosecutors to fully use transparency tools that took years of political fights to get passed.
Key findings
According to WBALTV, the ACLU's analysis counted 143 deaths in police encounters from 2015–2023 and found that 78% of those who died were unarmed. The group reported that 90% of the people killed were Black or Latino and that 47% of the fatal encounters involved someone experiencing a mental-health crisis. In those cases, none of the on-duty officers involved has been convicted or is currently facing criminal charges, according to the preview. The ACLU also noted in its early look that its tally already shows 13 fatal encounters so far in 2026.
ACLU frames the problem
As outlined by the ACLU of Maryland, the forthcoming report treats deadly police encounters not as isolated incidents but as the predictable outcome of what it calls "interlocking systems" involving law enforcement, prosecutors and forensic practices. According to the group, those systems often make it harder to see what actually happened and help shield officers from consequences. The organization says it pieced together its analysis using public records, police body-worn camera footage and citizen videos to reconstruct cases that are frequently mislabeled or quietly underreported. The preview calls for cross-sector reforms and stronger data collection that, in the ACLU's view, could reduce unnecessary police contacts in the first place.
Transparency tools and the law
Maryland is not starting from scratch on accountability. The state has already put new transparency measures on the books. In 2021, a law known as Anton's Law widened public access to internal investigations and disciplinary files involving officers, a shift detailed by the Washington Post. The Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division (IID) now handles probes of police-involved deaths and, for incidents that occurred on or after Oct. 1, 2023, has the authority to prosecute. Officials say the IID was set up to provide investigations that are independent of local police departments and state's attorney offices. Advocates counter that while those tools are essential, they have not yet translated into consistent accountability across Maryland.
Families and reformers respond
Survivors and family members told ACLU of Maryland lawyers that they sometimes call police for help, only to have the call end with a loved one dead. It is a pattern the group is highlighting to push for expanded crisis-response options that do not always involve armed officers. The ACLU says patchy records and inconsistent reporting practices make it hard for families to find out what actually happened or to seek any kind of redress. Local organizers say the analysis will serve as a data backbone for renewed demands for better reporting, stronger civilian oversight and more investment in nonpolice crisis teams.
Legal implications
The ACLU's preliminary tally, along with the details it shared with WBALTV, underscores a gap that reformers have been pointing to for years: even with new laws in place, criminal convictions for on-duty uses of force remain rare. WBAL reported that the ACLU found no on-duty officer who was convicted of or is currently facing charges in the 2015–2023 encounters it reviewed. The IID's expanded authority gives the Attorney General the power to prosecute incidents that occurred after Oct. 1, 2023, but it cannot retroactively change how earlier cases were handled, according to the Maryland Attorney General's office (Attorney General IID).
What to watch
The ACLU says it will publish the full analysis and a detailed case appendix soon. The final report is expected to flesh out the individual incidents behind the numbers and lay out specific policy recommendations for lawmakers and prosecutors. Advocates say they plan to use the document as a playbook in ongoing fights to enforce Anton's Law, expand nonpolice crisis-response options and make police disciplinary records easier for the public to obtain.
