Maryland correctional officers to wear body cameras in effort to increase transparency
Correctional officers at some Maryland prisons will start wearing body cameras during their shifts as the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) launches a pilot program to increase transparency.
The program will launch at the following facilities before it is rolled out across the agency later this year:
- Patuxent Institute on Feb. 19
- Eastern Correctional Institute on Feb. 25
- North Branch Correctional Institute on March 5
- Maryland Correctional Institute for Women on March 12
- Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center on March 19
The body-worn cameras should help officers comply with evidence-based practices and expedite the investigative process, according to DPSCS. The program aims to increase accountability and safety within the facilities.
According to the department, studies show the use of body-worn cameras helps to reduce excessive force complaints, assaults on staff members, inmate grievances and reports of rape.
"By documenting interactions in real-time, these cameras serve as an essential safeguard, fostering accountability and trust in the correctional system," DPSCS said.
Accountability in correctional centers
The effort to increase transparency comes after the state reached a $750,000 settlement in November 2024 with an inmate who alleged she was beaten and discriminated against by correctional officers at Baltimore's Central Booking.
Surveillance video of the incident in June 2019 showed a correctional officer appearing to put a transgender inmate in a chokehold inside the state-run facility. Two other officers were also in the room.
The inmate, Amber Canter, said she went unconscious when she was dropped onto a concrete floor. The video showed officers dragging her body.
Canter said her injuries were so severe, she was later placed in intensive care.
"They treated her like less than a person," her lawyer, Malcolm Ruff told WJZ. "She was called derogatory names. She was misgendered. She was abused physically, and she was abused mentally."
The state did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
In 2023, a former correctional officer pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three people while they were incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup. In one case, the inmate was led back to his cell while no one was around.
The Office of the Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division (IID) has investigated seven in-custody deaths since the department was created in October 2021. Two of the reported cases occurred in Baltimore City, though none occurred inside a correctional facility.
