Coalition opposing new Hopkins police force files lawsuit against BPD Commissioner, JHU

The group ‘Coalition Against Policing by Hopkins’ has filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Commissioner and John Hopkins University regarding the University’s new police force and an agreement signed between the two parties. 

The creation of a new, private force was first proposed in Summer 2022.

Months later, in December 2022, Commissioner Harrison and the University’s Vice President of Public Safety signed a Memorandum of Understanding or MOU.

The Johns Hopkins Police Department will claim jurisdiction within its three campuses, Homewood, Peabody and east Baltimore. 

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The MOU outlines jurisdictional lines between BPD and JHPD, and coordinates law enforcement responsibilities including which agency responds to which calls and when BPD will step in. 

Supporters believed adding a private police force would increase safety and take some pressure off the the already understaffed BPD. 

But the proposal came with some strong opposition and even sparked some protests. 

In the newly filed lawsuit the three plaintiffs, each a resident of one of the three campuses claimed the MOU in part, 

“… amounts to a secret handshake between BPD and an institution that intends to operate its own armed police force.”

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The lawsuit argues a few, key points including unclear jurisdictional lines. 

It reads in part: 

“The document does not identify the specific properties that comprise the “Campus Areas” wherein “primary” policing power and responsibility have been reassigned or transferred from BPD to the University.”

The lawsuit goes on to specify the MOU was signed while BPD was under State control, not City, which is a change that went into effect with the New Year. 

“This Court has jurisdiction to declare the document invalid, null and void,” reads the lawsuit. 

FOX45 News reached out to Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Police Department for comment on the lawsuit. 

A spokesperson for JHU wrote: 

“We are reviewing the complaint and generally do not comment on pending litigation, but we can say that the University is fully confident in the thoughtful statutory process the General Assembly set out for the development and operation of the Johns Hopkins Police Department.

As we move into the implementation phase of the JHPD development, we continue to take seriously our opportunity and obligation to build a model, progressive police department. As we have done with every step of the process, we will continue to facilitate robust and transparent community engagement and will provide opportunities for ongoing community input on the implementation of the JHPD.”

BPD has not yet responded to the inquiry.