Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The high profile killing of a Silver Spring man by a Montgomery County Police Officer prompts changes to investigations of fatal officer-involved shootings. Thursday Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed a number of bills into law, including the Law Enforcement Trust and Transparency Act. It will require at least two investigators from independent law enforcement entities investigate fatal officer-involved shootings.

“I think it’s an important part of building trust inside the community,” Elrich said.

The legislation was passed after an officer killed a black man named Robert White following an altercation on June 11, 2018. Now retired police chief Tom Manger wrote in a report officer Anand Badgujar said he saw White when he was driving near Three Oaks Drive. His hoodie was ripped, and White was staring at his police car. Badgujar’s attorney said as White was walking he thrust his hand into his jacket pocket and walked more quickly, looking over his shoulder at the officer. Manger wrote in the report that White’s movements and behavior gave the officer a “reasonable justification” to stop him because they made the officer believe White was armed.

When Badgujar tried to do a stop and frisk after following White, body camera video shows White lunged at him. That’s when Badgujar shot him multiple times killing him.

An internal review by Montgomery County police found the shooting was justified. The Howard County State’s Attorney’s office investigated and did not file criminal charges. Many residents and councilmember Will Jawando said it was a case of racial profiling and called for changes, which prompted Jawando to write the LETT Act.

Another bill Elrich signed into law lowers the acceptable limits for lead in drinking water at Montgomery County Public Schools. Recent testing found water at some schools had more lead than the state standard. After a state law required schools to test drinking water for lead, it was discovered that hundreds of faucets and fountains in the county’s public schools had more than the state standard of 20 parts per billion of lead.

The Pay Equity Act was also signed into law. Under this law, the county government will not be able to ask new employees for pay stubs when figuring out their salaries.

Copyright 2019 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Marc Elrich for County Executive Facebook)