Note: This letter originally appeared as an e-mail sent to the Hopkins community on July 31, 2024.
Dear Johns Hopkins Community,
Today I am excited to share the final policies and procedures that serve as the Johns Hopkins Police Department’s (JHPD) foundation and introduce two remarkable new department leaders who are the first officers to join us this fall as part of our comprehensive Public Safety team.
I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone in the community who has taken the time to engage with me and other Johns Hopkins Public Safety (JHPS) leaders through the development of our policies and as a part of the search process. Your feedback has been not just valuable but integral to the development of the JHPD. Your active participation gave voice to what is truly in our community’s best interests when it comes to safety.
JHPD Policies and Procedures
You can now access the final JHPD policies and procedures, along with a disposition report detailing all community feedback received during the public comment period and how the comments were addressed within the final policies, on the Public Safety website.
These policies set the bar high for the JHPD, elevating our mission to serve the community and providing transparency, focus, and a progressive, reform-minded approach to the training of our officers and the standards against which all JHPD conduct is evaluated. They adhere to national best practices in community-focused public safety and reflect the values of Johns Hopkins and the objectives of the JHPD-enabling legislation.
When we embarked on our policy development and feedback process, we were determined to engage our community early and often through an open, collaborative review process that would make our policies even better. You can now also access an external report on the policy development and feedback process prepared by nationally recognized experts at 21st Century Policing Solutions.
We will regularly review and update our policies and encourage you to continue sharing your feedback via email to [email protected] or the JHPS feedback form, Contact Public Safety.
New JHPD Leaders
Following an extensive search, and with the benefit of input from a diverse panel of JHU community members, we have hired two veteran leaders with complementary experiences and stellar reputations in the Baltimore community to help me lead the JHPD: Deputy Chief Monique “Mo” Brown and Captain Robert “Teddy” Reed.
Deputy Chief Brown was raised in East Baltimore, attended Mergenthaler Vocational Tech High School (MERVO), graduated from Strayer University, and is a current Baltimore City resident. She spent more than 24 years with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), working her way through the ranks and serving in just about every role, most recently as deputy commissioner of Patrol & the Community Policing Bureau, where she prioritized a commitment to community partnerships and police reform. She will oversee the daily operations of the JHPD and manage police services on our Homewood, East Baltimore, and Peabody campuses, keeping our campus constituencies and surrounding neighbors well informed and involved in the process.
Captain Reed was raised in North Baltimore and is also a current Baltimore City resident. An alum of Johns Hopkins, he brings extensive experience in both university and municipal police work. Most recently, he served as commander of the police force at Towson University, where he led the accreditation process. In his new role with JHPD, he will lead a highly professional police force dedicated to building relationships with students, faculty, staff, and visitors. His responsibilities will include ensuring that officers and supervisors carry out their duties in a way that strengthens public trust and reflects the department’s unwavering commitment to modern, community-oriented law enforcement.
Mo and Teddy serve as excellent examples of the caliber of police officers we are proud to have on our team, and they will be an inspiration as we continue to recruit and hire additional officers.
What to Expect on Campus
Over the course of the next year, we are taking a phased approach to recruiting and training groups of JHPD officers and then introducing and orienting them to the communities we serve.
Several additional officers will join us at the start of the upcoming fall semester, during which time you may begin seeing JHPD officers and vehicles on campus in a limited capacity as they get to know our community. Our officers look forward to building relationships on campus and listening to you on an ongoing basis, as they join organized safety walks, orientations, and various campus events.
Regular patrols by JHPD officers will be phased in over the course of early spring as more officers complete the onboarding process and the necessary trainings, to include field training.
During this time and going forward, Johns Hopkins will also continue to rely on the existing campus security team as a part of our holistic approach to public safety. JHPD officers will work in partnership with current JHPS employees across all our campuses and facilities in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. As a reminder, the JHPS team can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 667-208-1200.
I want to thank the faculty, staff, and students; members of the Johns Hopkins Police Accountability Board; and Baltimore residents whose time, commitment, and engagement have ensured we have the leadership, the team, and the policies we need to take these next steps. I look forward to continuing our dialogue.
Sincerely,
Dr. Branville G. Bard Jr.
Vice President for Public Safety & Chief of Police