By Sean Yoes

This morning (Feb. 11) during the official introduction press conference of Michael Harrison, the man selected by Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh to be the city’s next police commissioner, the acting commissioner made some news concerning the State’s Attorney’s policy on marijuana possession prosecutions.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby recently announced her office will not prosecute marijuana possession cases, some argue neutralizing laws that disproportionately impact Black, Brown and poor communities.

During his press conference this morning attended by Mayor Pugh, former Interim Commissioner Gary Tuggle, Comptroller Joan Pratt and several members of the Baltimore City Council, Harrison announced he was headed to a meeting with Mosby to discuss how the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) can coordinate with the State’s Attorney’s Office on Mosby’s marijuana prosecution policy.

“We’ll enter into discussions about how we can approach that dynamic,” said Harrison the former Chief of the New Orleans Police Department.  “That’s a policy change from the State’s Attorney, not a law change from the state legislature or in the city code. So, that’s an internal State’s Attorney policy change. I’m on my way to have that meeting so we can have that discussion and together we can figure out how we can…best approach this that satisfies everybody. But, make sure that citizens and residents of Baltimore are safe and that the department is following the law and its policies.”

This article originally appeared in The Afro. 

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