SILVER SPRING — A state panel created in response to the death of a Frederick County man with Down syndrome is launching a statewide “listening tour” aimed at improving police interactions with the intellectually and developmentally disabled.
The commission is holding the first of four public sessions Thursday in Silver Spring.
The panel said in a progress report last week that current training is inconsistent and not comprehensive. The commission is asking people what kind of training Maryland should provide.
Twenty-six-year-old Robert Ethan Saylor died of asphyxia in January 2013as three mall security officers tried to remove him from a Frederick movie theater because he hadn’t purchased a ticket for a second viewing.
His death was ruled a homicide but a Frederick County grand jury refused to indict the officers.