Transparency at stake in early test of Maryland police records law

A Maryland police union says a new law meant to allow access to officer disciplinary records should not apply to those created before the law took effect. Release of the records would be unfair to an officer, the union says, because he was guaranteed confidentiality when the investigation into his conduct took place. The argument is among those from Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 in a case widely seen as an early test of Anton’s Law, passed by state lawmakers in 2021 to ensure public access to complaints of police misconduct.