Maryland public defender's office calls for immediate suspension of Baltimore police surveillance program

Maryland's Office of the Public Defender has asked the Baltimore Police Department to stop filming citizens from the sky until the public is briefed on the program and defense attorneys are given access to the footage. The public defender also wants to know how evidence gathered by the recently disclosed aerial surveillance program has been stored, accessed and used in the prosecution of criminal defendants. The office said the program should be shelved until there are "in-depth conversations" about how it works, and police should stop analyzing footage unless they have "prior judicial authorization in the form of a search warrant or equivalent court order." Baltimore Deputy Public Defender Natalie Finegar made those requests in letters delivered Monday to Police Commissioner Kevin Davis and Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby. "We are requesting that this surveillance program be suspended until such time as public hearings can be held and a clear avenue of discovery and access to data by defense attorneys is established," Finegar wrote to Davis.