Maryland’s state lawmakers called on Gov. Larry Hogan Tuesday to use his executive authority to implement police reform measures following nationwide calls for accountability and defunding of law enforcement.

In a letter to Hogan, Maryland House Democrats led by Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones asked him to take immediate actions including banning chokeholds, establishing a standard for deadly use of force, creating an officer use of force intervention program, and requiring all officers in state law enforcement agencies to sign a sanctity of life pledge.

“This is not a partisan issue: I don’t care who gets the credit. We need to start implementing policing changes now,” Jones wrote in a statement. “With the stroke of the pen, Governor Hogan has the power to save someone’s life today.”

The letter also asks Maryland’s Police Training and Standards Commission to report to the legislature by July 10 on which police departments in the state are requiring deescalation and implicit bias training, are not reporting use-of-force data, and have not implemented a use-of-force policy. Jones also announced the creation of a police reform and accountability workgroup to study statutory changes to improve transparency and implement new requirements to prevent police misconduct.

A spokesperson for Hogan commented on the letter on Tuesday, writing in a statement, “While several of these policies are already implemented by our state police agencies, we will certainly give thoughtful consideration to the Speaker’s letter, as well as the conclusions and recommendations of the workgroup she has established to examine these serious issues.”

Maryland’s D.C.-area counties are also looking to make changes to their police departments.

In Prince George’s, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks told county councilmembers on Tuesday that she was embarrassed by the county police officers who were suspended three weeks ago after a video surfaced showing two of them striking and beating a man while trying to detain him. Alsobrooks also applauded State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy for indicting an officer within 24 hours after he shot and killed a man who was handcuffed in the back of a police car in January.

“This is not only a time of tremendous pain and suffering, but it is also a time of opportunity,” Alsobrooks told councilmembers. “We have an opportunity to do more for Prince Georgians that they feel safe in their communities, but also have the kind of relationship with our law enforcement officers that they deserve.”

Following the incident in January, Alsobrooks and the county council moved to equip all police officers with body-worn cameras. By the end of 2020, Alsobrooks says, she expects the cameras to be operational on the more than 1,500 county police officers. On Tuesday, Alsobrooks also announced additional measures she intends to take over the next few years.

Rather than spending additional county dollars on a public safety training facility, Alsobrooks says she’s diverting funds to construct a mental health and addiction facility. Alsobrooks said this would be a way for community members struggling with mental health and addiction to be helped in lieu of sending them to jail.

Councilwoman Danielle Glaros said the council was already trying to make strides before the coronavirus pandemic to put more money toward health and human services.

“Of course we’re now in a pandemic, an economic crisis, and there is a lot of anxiety about how we’re going to use those resources,” Glaros told councilmembers. “We have spent way too little on health and human services since the ’90s and we have to change our approach and this is not going to be an easy year to change that approach.”

Alsobrooks also announced new policies to assist with promotional opportunities for officers and incentivize them to live in the county. The first would work with Prince George’s County Community College to create a test preparation program for officers to test into higher ranks. This reform comes after a lawsuit filed by officers of color in 2018 with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland alleging racial discrimination and retaliation in hiring and promotion decisions. The outcome of that case is still pending in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

The second policy would provide tax subsidies to officers who choose to live in the county. Police Chief Hank Stawinski is supportive of the measure.

“There is a different investment for people who live in the community than don’t,” Stawinski said.

Angelo Consoli, president of the county’s police union and former police chief, said he was excited to move forward in reforms and wanted to hear from the community.

“Transparency has really been the key, in my opinion, for trust,” Consoli said. “A lot of that has been eroded over the last several months, but we know how to earn back the trust of the community and we’re willing to do that.”

Alsobrooks said she’s hoping that with these reforms the county can be a model for the country in how to do policing.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich announced a new use of force intervention policy while the county council introduced legislation to require county police to adopt a minimum standard for use of force.

The legislation would ban the use of deadly force and neck restraints except to prevent imminent death or serious harm to another person. It would also prohibit police from striking someone who is restrained and require other officers to step in when they see excessive force used.

The police chief will be tasked with issuing a directive to enforce the policy. A hearing on the legislation is tentatively scheduled for July.

The new Use of Force Intervention Policy, which went into effect on June 11 and is separate from the Council’s legislation, requires officers to intervene when they witness other officers using force inappropriately or when it is no longer necessary.

Both the Montgomery County Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, its union, agreed to the policy.

A Montgomery County Police officer was charged with assault last year after a video showed him slamming his knee into a handcuffed suspect’s head.

Torrie Cooke, the president of FOP Lodge 35, said during the press conference that the new policy reinforces actions that officers should have already been taking. “We’re making sure that everybody understands their responsibility when force is applied inappropriately,” he said.

Police Chief Marcus Jones said during the press conference that officers who fail to comply with the policy would face penalties, which will vary from case to case.

The slew of local and state-level legislation on police reform comes after weeks of protests in the District, Baltimore City, and across the nation demanding to defund police departments and change policing practices in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis on May 25.

Elrich said this is the first in a series of reforms the county would be implementing, adding that it is in the process of forming a committee to evaluate the issue.

“I think that over the next months that you’ll begin to see evolving changes in the department and the practice of policing that are good for the police officers, but most importantly good for the community,” said Elrich.