Maryland Statutes
Subtitle 5 - Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 3-525 - Information Relating to Executed Search Warrants -- Standardized Reporting Format -- Actions by Law Enforcement Agency

(a)    (1)    In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
        (2)    “Law enforcement agency” has the meaning stated in § 3–201 of this title.
        (3)    “No–knock search warrant” means a search warrant authorizing entry into a building, an apartment, a premises, a place, or a thing to be searched without giving notice of the officer’s authority or purpose.
        (4)    “Police officer” has the meaning stated in § 3–201 of this title.
        (5)    “SWAT team” means a special unit composed of two or more police officers within a law enforcement agency trained to deal with unusually dangerous or violent situations and having special equipment and weapons, including rifles more powerful than those carried by regular police officers.
    (b)    A law enforcement agency shall report the following information relating to search warrants executed by the law enforcement agency during the prior calendar year to the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services using the format developed under subsection (c) of this section:
        (1)    the number of times a no–knock search warrant was executed in the previous year;
        (2)    the name of the county and municipal corporation and the zip code of the location where each no–knock search warrant was executed;
        (3)    for each search warrant executed, the number of days from the issuance until the execution of the search warrant, disaggregated by whether the search warrant was a no–knock search warrant;
        (4)    the legal basis for each no–knock search warrant issued;
        (5)    the number of times a search warrant was executed under circumstances in which a police officer made forcible entry into the building, apartment, premises, place, or thing to be searched specified in the warrant;
        (6)    the number of times a SWAT team was deployed to execute a search warrant;
        (7)    the number of arrests made, if any, during the execution of a search warrant;
        (8)    the number of times property was seized during the execution of a search warrant;
        (9)    the number of times a weapon was discharged by a police officer during the execution of a search warrant; and
        (10)    the number of times a person or domestic animal was injured or killed during the execution of a search warrant, disaggregated by whether the person or animal was injured or killed by a police officer.
    (c)    The Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, shall develop a standardized format for each law enforcement agency to use in reporting data to the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services under subsection (b) of this section.
    (d)    A law enforcement agency shall:
        (1)    compile the data described in subsection (b) of this section for each 1–year period as a report in the format required under subsection (c) of this section; and
        (2)    not later than January 15 each year, submit the report to:
            (i)    the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services; and
            (ii)    1.    the local governing body of the jurisdiction served by the law enforcement agency that is the subject of the report; or
                2.    if the jurisdiction served by the law enforcement agency is a municipal corporation, the chief executive officer of the jurisdiction.
    (e)    (1)    The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services shall analyze and summarize the reports of law enforcement agencies submitted under subsection (d) of this section.
        (2)    Before September 1 each year, the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services shall:
            (i)    submit a report of the analyses and summaries of the reports of law enforcement agencies described in paragraph (1) of this subsection to the Governor, each law enforcement agency, and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly; and
            (ii)    publish the report on its website.
    (f)    (1)    If a law enforcement agency fails to comply with the reporting provisions of this section, the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services shall report the noncompliance to the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission.
        (2)    On receipt of a report of noncompliance, the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission shall contact the law enforcement agency and request that the agency comply with the required reporting provisions.
        (3)    If the law enforcement agency fails to comply with the required reporting provisions of this section within 30 days after being contacted by the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission with a request to comply, the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services and the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission jointly shall report the noncompliance to the Governor and the Legislative Policy Committee of the General Assembly.

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