As State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy is the top law enforcement officer in the County, responsible for the safety and security of over one million residents. Her motto for the Office under her administration is that “Crime is personal...personal to the victim, personal to the community, and personal to the State’s Attorney’s office.”
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Braveboy has been at the forefront of effective solutions to prevent the spread of the virus and support the community. She was the first in the State to lead the nation in implementing ‘Operation Safe Release’, which was a proactive way of reducing the spread of the coronavirus in the jail. Through this initiative, her office and criminal justice partners have safely and judiciously reduced the inmate population to prevent a public health crisis in the facility and community.
In addition, Ms. Braveboy continues to work with non-profits and County agencies to ensure that victims of abuse and domestic violence receive the resources and support they need during the pandemic.
The State's attorney is served by a staff of several hundred prosecutors, attorneys, investigators, agents and support staff in offices across Prince George's County.
We play a critical role in safeguarding the community through the prosecution of all criminal cases. Our prosecutors (called Assistant State’s Attorneys or ASAs), our investigators, and our staff are totally committed to providing firm, fair, and consistent prosecutions.
We understand that thoughtful and impartial application of the law is key to maintaining public confidence and ensuring community safety and well-being in the future.
1st Term Highlights
2022 Legislative Success
The 444th Legislative Session concluded with notable successes for both Prince George’s County and the state of Maryland. This would not have been possible without the exemplary work and support of members from the General Assembly.
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In Annapolis, we closed the loophole on the manufacturing, selling and transporting of untraceable firearms. This legislation was in response to the steady increase in the use of “ghost guns” to commit violent crimes across the state. We appreciate the legislature for giving law enforcement the tools needed to hold accountable sellers, transporters, and users of these dangerous firearms.
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In addition, we expanded protections for young victims and witnesses by authorizing the courts to admit into evidence out-of-court statements made by a child who is under the age of 13. This legislation was critical to minimize additional trauma resulting from a child’s participation in the legal process. [Senate Bill 387 Criminal Procedure – Out of Court Statements – Child Victims and Witnesses]
Lastly, we secured resources for Employ Prince George’s to work with the State’s Attorney’s Office to expand employment and business development opportunities for individuals who are returning to the community from incarceration. [Senate Bill 390 - State Resources for Returning Citizens].
1st Term Highlights
2021
It was an extraordinary year with the COVID-19 Pandemic and the local and national call for social and criminal justice reform, through it all, the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney's office worked to bring reform and continued justice to our constituents.
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Juvenile Lifers
House Bill 409 is a narrowly crafted bill aimed at juveniles, convicted of serious crimes in adult court, who have served 20 years or more in prison and have shown significant maturation and capacity to change in ways that make them no longer a danger to the public, may have their sentence reconsidered by the court. This bill will allow a court to take a new look at an old sentence in light of what we know today about past events, as well as the subsequent actions of the juvenile offender.
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Emerging Adult Program
This legislation will fund the Emerging Adult Youth Program in Prince George’s County. This program is focused on individuals aged 18-26 years old who are currently incarcerated. Working with the Key Ever Forward organization this program establishes key re-entry programs for our young adults to include counseling, job training, and work programs. The program begins while the young adult is incarcerated and continues through probation in order to reduce recidivism and promote successful re-entry into the community. This program currently costs about $10,000 per person.
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Body Cameras
House Bill 187 will require all police departments to deploy body-worn cameras by January 1, 2025. Body-worn cameras will increase transparency and accountability between law enforcement and the citizens that they are sworn to protect. Body cameras will lead to a faster resolution of citizen complaints, serve as a training tool, and help restore confidence in our police departments. State Attorney’s offices will need resources to successfully utilize and store the demonstrative evidence. This increase footage will require a massive increase in storage fees. State’s Attorney Offices will require resources to store footage needed for trial.
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Internal Affair Records
The State’s Attorney’s Office has also proposed a process for the identification, review, and production of relevant information contained in Internal Affairs records maintained by the Department’s IA Division. The general proposal provides a transparent and fair process in which the State’s Attorney’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office ensure that relevant and material information is turned over to defense counsel while ensuring the integrity of personnel files.
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Continuing Court of Abuse
House Bill 277 is designed to protect our most vulnerable victims, our children. Too often our children are the victims of repeated child abuse, and although these children are often given a medical diagnosis of torture, each individual episode of abuse does not create life-threatening injuries or loss or impairment of an organ, and therefore the perpetrator cannot be charged with the aggravated felony of First Degree Child Abuse. This bill states that anyone who commits three or more acts of child abuse may be charged with First Degree Child Abuse as a continuing course of abuse.
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Ghost Guns
This legislation will close the loophole for the manufacturing and use of Ghost Guns in violent crimes in Maryland. This legislation is aimed to make clear that ghost guns should be considered firearms for the purposes of the public safety article and for the purposes of the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
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Civil Remedies for the non-consensual posting of videos on pornographic websites
This legislation mirrors pending federal legislation and will ensure that victims of non-consensual pornography have civil remedies for platforms that do not properly vet out videos for publication. It aims to put an end to the publishing of child pornography as well as videos of sexual assault or posted for the purposes of embarrassing another party.
1st Term Highlights
2020 Legislative Success
During Maryland’s 2020 legislative session, Ms. Braveboy and her team worked with lawmakers in Annapolis to ensure that two of her priority pieces of legislation were successfully passed.
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The 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III legislation will ensure that individuals who commit a hate crime are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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The Assault in the First Degree - Suffocation or Strangulation Law makes strangulation a first-degree felony.
Since taking office Ms. Braveboy has ushered in significant changes in how individuals and cases are handled to ensure not only that justice is administered in Prince George’s County, but that it is done fairly.
1st Term Highlights
New Units
Ms. Braveboy has created a number of new units in her office to better address criminal justice needs.
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The Public Integrity Unit focuses on police misconduct, excessive use of force, and corruption cases.
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The Conviction and Sentencing Integrity Unit, the only one of its kind in the State of Maryland, reviews cases where there are questions or doubts about a sentence that has been handed down. This Unit has focused a lot of attention recently on individuals who were convicted of serious crimes while a juvenile, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment or similar lengthy terms, and who have now served a significant period of time in jail. There are a number of significant legal obstacles to securing release for these individuals, but the Braveboy Administration has been pursuing a variety of ways to effect a change in the sentence. These include participation in reentry court, supervised release to programs specializing in reentry, and accelerated parole consideration, as well as sentence review by the original judge or their successor. She has also reorganized her Juvenile Justice Unit and created community partnerships to end the school to prison pipeline, one of her major priorities.
1st Term Highlights
Campaign Promises Fulfilled
As promised during her campaign, under Ms. Braveboy’s administration, the Juvenile Unit was transformed and appropriately renamed the Youth Justice Unit.
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Ms. Braveboy has inspired and promoted a unique prosecutorial perspective in which the focus is placed upon identifying and addressing the underlying catalysts and motivations for the youth’s actions.
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The Unit is rehabilitating youth offenders and affording them the support and mentorship that they need in order to address their delinquent behaviors. Through in-house programs like Teen Court and community-based diversion programs and in partnership with the Prince George’s County Public Schools, the Youth Justice Unit has begun to identify the appropriate offenders. These young offenders are then matched up with programs to not only rehabilitate but to also provide the youth offender with the tools to become and remain productive members of the County.
In addition, Ms. Braveboy is expanding diversion opportunities, having implemented a human trafficking diversion program that diverts eligible offenders and provides them the benefit of services.
She has doubled the number of participants in the Back-On-Track program, which focuses on giving first-time felony drug offenders a second chance.
She has also created the "Drive Focused, Sober and Safe campaign", and increased participation in the monthly Community in The Courthouse sessions.
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