Chicago Justice sued Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) on March 12, 2024, to enforce Maryland Public Information Act document requests, pending since 2021.  The lawsuit seeks documents and records regarding the Prince George’s Police Department’s participation in and collection, storage, and dissemination of gang affiliation data for the Washington/Baltimore High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.  Since 2020, when NBC4 and Telemundo 44 published a report asserting that PGPD is falsely labeling people as gang members for the database (including minorities), PGPD has avoided disclosing information about its participation in the program.

In response to our Public Information Act request, PGPD admitted to entering gang affiliation data into the Washington/Baltimore High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database but said they do not possess or store any of this data.

At the same time, PGPD tried to charge CJP over $8k to search their records to identify any records that might fall under the Public Information Act requests. CJP requested a waiver of the fees, but PGPD denied that public access to their practices of collecting, storing, and disseminating gang affiliation data was in the public interest.

As the lawsuit proceeded, CJP sought discovery about PGPD’s documents and practices, serving requests for documents, interrogatories, and deposition notices.  However, PGPD ignored its obligations and failed to respond to our discovery requests. On Monday, July 1, our attorneys showed up to depose “one or more officers, directors, agents, or other representatives who shall be designated to testify on the County’s behalf….,” but PGPD’s witness failed to appear or even seek a new date for the deposition. These are not the actions of a responsible public body participating in the judicial oversight process. These are not the actions of an agency whose sole purpose is enforcing Maryland laws.

CJP has moved for discovery sanctions and default judgment.  The trial is currently set for early December.  However, PGPD continues to hide its activities by entering its citizens into the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database. CJP believes PGPD is hiding something.  What are they hiding?

Check back to this page for updates on the proceedings. Below, you can access documents from the case, including the complaint, motions for deposition, and discovery.