Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons
Expanding on a pilot program begun in February 2025, Maryland lawmakers have moved to require a body-worn camera (BWC) for use by all guards in the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) by the beginning of 2026. The requirement was added to the final text of HB0176/SB0026 before it was passed and signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D) in May 2025.
The new Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act was named to honor the only state parole officer ever killed in the line of duty. To prevent a recurrence of Martinez’s May 2024 killing—during a home check on parolee Emmanel Sewell, 54, whose murder charge is still pending—lawmakers penned the new statute to kick-start the process of developing new workplace safety rules. State agencies have until October 1, 2026, to come up with those.
The law also directs the state Correctional Training Commission “to adopt regulations for the training, issuance, and use of body-worn cameras by January 1, 2026.” In addition, it authorizes the state Division of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health officials to impose monetary penalties for violations.
Home visits by state parole officers were suspended after Martinez’s murder, a few deemed necessary carried out by redeploying armed warrant apprehension officers. The new requirement for BWCs adds Maryland to a short list of state prison systems that have adopted them, the largest being California—though use of BWCs there was ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Aug. 2023, p.50.]
That’s because guards often resist the technology. A New York law passed 10 years ago has so far resulted in full deployment of BWCs to guards at just seven of 42 state prisons. In New York City’s jail system, all 3,500 BWCs were recalled from guards after one caught fire in May 2024, as PLN also reported. [See: PLN, Au. 2024, p.48.] The devices were supposed to be returned within a week to 10 days, but they remained offline for months.
Additional sources: Maryland Matters, New York Focus
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