Multiple law enforcement agencies around the Washington, D.C area refused to provide security assistance for President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Several local departments that declined to help were based in Maryland, where a spotlight has been shined on the blue state policies that might have contributed to the decision.
According to reports from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in the nation’s capital, numerous Maryland departments had turned down their request for additional resources. “Due to difference in the interpretation of Maryland’s recent legislation on the use of force compared to the District of Columbia’s use of force policies, some Maryland agencies are unable to assist MPD directly for the inauguration,” the MPD said.
Notably, after the death of George Floyd in 2020, the Maryland General Assembly passed a sweeping reform of its justice and policing standards in accordance with the “defund the police” movement. The legislation known as the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 substantially revised how law enforcement interacts with suspects in the state, mandating the use of de-escalation tactics.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office gave a statement about the request from MPD, explaining their deputies were not “trained” to handle specific scenarios. “Having deputies respond to situations [and] being held to a standard in which they are not trained in creates a difficult and particularly dangerous situation,” the department’s spokesperson Cristie Hopkins said.
Hopkins further noted that their officers were not sufficiently familiar with MPD policy. “[O]ur deputies were not familiar with the unknown [MPD] policy and would revert to [our] policy and training during a critical incident.” She added, “It was at that time that the Harford County Sheriff’s Office made the decision to not provide assistance for the inauguration activities.”
Furthermore, Sheriff’s offices in Calvert, Carroll, and Worcester Counties indicated they would not send deputies to the inauguration. Their concerns stemmed from available manpower and overtime concerns. However, these three agencies had sent deputies to Washington, D.C. to provide security assistance in previous inaugurations.
MPD Chief Pamela Smith, along with officials from the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S Capitol Police, held a news conference last weekend to discuss the last-minute changes to the inauguration. “We recognize that moments like the presidential inauguration are significant opportunities for people to exercise their First Amendment rights,” she said. “On Monday, MPD is actively monitoring 19 scheduled First Amendment demonstrations across the city, and we are fully prepared to address them.”
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Explaining that the inauguration would be moved inside, the Capitol Police said, “At the request of the President-elect and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the 60th Inauguration will be held inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The ticketed areas outside, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, will now be closed to ticketed guests on Monday, January 20, due to the extremely cold weather that is expected in Washington, D.C. The United States Capitol Police, along with our law enforcement partners, will still have a heightened security posture with an increased law enforcement presence and layers of physical security. The security perimeter is the same.”
Watch Melania wearing a stunning outfit as she and Trump arrived for the pre-Inauguration church ceremony here: