The Baltimore Police Monitoring Team is charged with overseeing implementation of the Consent Decree between the City of Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice.  The Monitoring Team’s job is to help the Court gauge whether, consistent with the Consent Decree’s objectives, the Baltimore City Police Department is achieving meaningful reform – real world change with tangible, positive results for Baltimoreans.

The Consent Decree provides that, on behalf of Federal Judge James K. Bredar, the Baltimore Police Monitoring Team will “assess and report whether the requirements of this Agreement have been implemented, and provide Technical Assistance in achieving compliance.”  (¶ 442).  This means that the Monitoring Team plays several roles:  arbiter, technical advisor, and facilitator.

As arbiter, the Monitoring Team oversees the day-to-day efforts of the City and Baltimore  City Police Department (BPD) to comply with the reforms required by the Consent Decree.  The Monitoring Team reviews, provides feedback on, and ultimately recommends Court approval or disapproval of the changes the BPD makes in its policies, training, and practices.  The Monitoring Team establishes clear expectations so that both the BPD and Baltimore residents know what the BPD must do to achieve the Consent Decree’s objectives. 

As technical advisor, the Monitoring Team draws upon its decades of collective experience in policing and police reform, civil rights enforcement, social science, and organizational change to help guide the BPD toward satisfying the requirements of the Consent Decree. As the BPD seeks to achieve reform, the Monitoring Team will provide the BPD with technical assistance that will include informing the BPD about national best practices and educating the BPD about what has worked (and what has failed) for other law enforcement agencies that have confronted challenges similar to the BPD’s.

As facilitator, the Monitoring Team ensures that all stakeholders, from within the BPD and across Baltimore’s diverse communities, have a voice in the Consent Decree process.  The Monitoring Team works with the City, the BPD, the United States Department of Justice, and Court to provide a framework for implementing the Decree.  Likewise, the Monitoring Team organizes and leads meetings, discussions, and educational forums throughout Baltimore to ensure that Baltimore residents have an opportunity to participate in the reform process.

The Monitoring Team is not a substitute for the Police Commissioner, the Mayor, or the City Council. We are not authorized to do the work of any City official, and we do not represent the BPD or the City.  Similarly, the Monitoring Team is not an arm of the United States Department of Justice.  We do not represent, advocate for, or do the work of the Department of Justice.  The Monitoring Team is an independent agent of the federal court—Judge James K. Bredar—whose role is strictly limited to overseeing implementation of the Consent Decree. 

As an agent of a federal court with a limited role, the Monitoring Team does not have the authority or the ability to weigh in on all police-related matters. For instance, although the Monitoring Team assesses compliance with mandated reforms in the investigation and discipline of BPD officer misconduct, the Monitoring Team cannot bring criminal charges against police officers accused of wrongdoing.  We are not a substitute for local or federal prosecutors.  Likewise, the Monitoring Team cannot intervene in employment or disciplinary matters within the BPD. We do not offer a substitute for the formal disciplinary process and cannot override the decisions of the BPD, the City, or arbitrators. 

As agents of a federal court whose exclusive role is to oversee implementation of the Consent Decree, the Monitoring Team assesses whether the BPD is, in fact, making the changes that the Consent Decree requires, provides technical assistance to the BPD as it works toward making those changes, and engages City residents, BPD officers, and City officials and to ensure that, where appropriate, those changes reflect their input. The goal of the Monitoring Team is the goal of the Consent Decree:  effective, safe, constitutional policing that is consistent with the values of Baltimore's diverse communities.

Team Leadership

Evan Shea
Deputy Monitor

Evan Shea is an experienced trial and appellate attorney who focuses on complex commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense. Evan served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Maryland, from 2012 to 2017, where he led the Maryland Financial Crimes Task Force, and prosecuted a variety of criminal and civil cases involving asset forfeiture, money laundering, fraud, tax, and bank secrecy act violations. From 2015 to 2017, Evan served as chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office, where he had statewide responsibility for overseeing federal asset forfeiture and money laundering matters. Prior to his time as an assistant U.S. Attorney, Evan was an associate at a law firm in Washington, DC, where he represented corporations and individuals in investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Chief Hassan Aden (ret.)
Deputy Monitor

Chief Aden is the former Chief of Police of the Greenville Police Department in Greenville, North Carolina. Until late 2015, he was the Director of the Research and Programs Directorate of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), where he directly oversaw the day-to-day management of operational programs and research projects aimed at advancing professional police services. He worked for 26 years at the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief there. Chief Aden is a former commissioner of the governing board of CALEA and has served as a Senior Executive Fellow at the Police Foundation. He is currently a member of the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team, which oversees implementation of a federal consent decree, and has served as an expert for the team monitoring a similar consent decree in Seattle.  Among other academic credentials, he holds a Masters of Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC. 

Dr. Theron Bowman
Deputy Monitor

Theron “T” Bowman is the retired Deputy City Manager of Arlington, Texas. Chief Bowman served on the Arlington Police Department for 29 years, including 13 years as chief. During his tenure, Arlington achieved historic lows in crime, despite tremendous growth. As chief and in subordinate roles, Chief Bowman supervised internal affairs, community affairs, crime prevention, youth services, hiring and recruiting, recruit and in-service training, and media relations, among other areas. As a consultant, Chief Bowman has worked as a court-appointed monitor for the New Orleans Police Department consent decree and as a police practices expert for DOJ in the following jurisdictions: Maricopa County, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Cleveland, Ohio; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Los Angeles County, California; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Meridian, Mississippi. Chief Bowman also was a strategic site liaison for the Violence Reduction Network in Little Rock, Arkansas and a COPS collaborative reform consultant for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served on the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) from 2006 through 2012.

Subject Matter Experts

Matthew Barge

Matthew Barge is Co-Executive Director of the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC), a non-profit organization based in New York City that advances effective and accountable policing.  Mr. Barge is the federal court-appointed monitor of a consent decree between the U.S. Department of Justice and City of Cleveland addressing the Cleveland Division of Police.  The decree addresses use of force, community policing, discriminatory policing, and other operational issues.  He also serves as lead police practices expert for a settlement between the ACLU and City of Chicago addressing stop and frisk issues.  Mr. Barge has previously served as the Deputy Monitor of a consent decree between the United States and City of Seattle, which addressed use of force and discriminatory policing issues.  A lawyer, Mr. Barge was a litigator specializing in mass torts and complex litigation at the law firms of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan in New York.  He is a graduate of N.Y.U. School of Law and Georgetown University.

Dr. Randolph Dupont

Dr. Dupont is a national expert in law enforcement response to individuals experiencing mental health, substance abuse, and other behavioral crises. Working with the Memphis Police Department, Dr. Dupont helped plan and develop the nationally recognized “Memphis Model” for crisis intervention, which has become the leading framework for law enforcement agencies partnering with communities to improve the delivery of services to those with behavioral health challenges. Dr. Dupont was the principal investigator for (i) the National Science Foundation-funded study on training techniques in crisis de-escalation; (ii) DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (“BJA”) Special Populations study, which developed a national curriculum for law enforcement crisis intervention and community engagement; and (iii) the Tennessee Health and Human Services SAMHSA Jail Diversion Research Project. He also has participated as a subject matter expert in DOJ’s investigation of the New Orleans Police Department and on the consent decree monitoring teams for the Seattle and Cleveland Police Departments. Dr. Dupont received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Maggie Goodrich

Until 2017, Ms. Goodrich was the Chief Information Officer of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). She was responsible for the development and implementation of all LAPD risk management systems, including the officer early intervention system, mandated by the federal consent decree between the city of Los Angeles and the United States. Prior to joining the LAPD, Ms. Goodrich served as Policy Director for Homeland Security and Public Safety for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles. Ms. Goodrich has assisted police departments in Seattle, Cleveland, Chicago, and several other jurisdictions on implementing law enforcement technology platforms.  A lawyer, she has practiced litigation and white collar criminal defense at Howrey LLP. Prior to entering law, Ms. Goodrich served as an Information Technology Project Manager in software development and e-commerce.

Eve Gushes

Eve Gushes is the former Deputy Chief for the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform for the Chicago Police Department, where she oversaw and led all personnel assigned to the CPD reform effort and initiatives relating to compliance with a state consent decree. In her 32 years with CPD, Ms. Gushes developed and implemented the CPD’s first–ever Force Review Unit to increase citizen and police officer safety to reduce exposure to civil liability. She also coordinated cooperation among Bureaus in the CPD to ensure reform efforts were understood and looked upon as a Department-wide strategy.  Ms. Gushes currently serves as a Compliance Officer and Community Liaison with the Portland Police Bureau in support of a Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.  She also serves as a Strategic Site Liaison within the Department of Justice's National Public Safety Partnership Program to assist the Albuquerque Police Department in implementing strategic violence reduction initiatives.  Ms. Gushes earned a D.Ed. and a Master of Science in Training and Development from Loyala University of Chicago.  She holds a B.S. from DePaul University in Chicago.

Deputy Commissioner Nola Joyce (ret.)

Deputy Commissioner Joyce is a nationally recognized leader in policing, research and practice who has worked on the successful implementation of innovative community policing programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. In Chicago, she was a member of the leadership team for the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy. In Washington, D.C., she headed organizational development, leading major change efforts in community policing, victim-centric services and policy and procedure modernization, before becoming Chief Administrative Officer. In Philadelphia, as Deputy Commissioner for Services, Strategy and Innovation, she had responsibility for all non-operational functions and strategic change initiatives for the department. Since retiring from the Philadelphia Police Department in early 2016, she has helped implement reforms in Cincinnati and Camden County, New Jersey. She is also an advisor to the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law, Police Investigations Project and recently served on the National Science Academy’s Panel on Modernizing the Nation’s Criminal Statistics.

Professor Tracey Meares

Tracey L. Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law and Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory at Yale University. Previously, she was Max Pam Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School. She was, at both The University of Chicago and Yale Law Schools, the first African American woman to be granted tenure. Professor Meares has been engaged in a number of action-oriented research projects in Chicago, Northern California, and several sites across New York State focused on violence reduction through legitimacy-enhancing strategies. Professor Meares also served on the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Before going into academia, Professor Meares held positions clerking for the Honorable Harlington Wood, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and as an Honors Program Trial Attorney in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. She has a B.S. in general engineering from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Chief Kathleen O'Toole (ret.)

Until December 2017, Chief O'Toole was the Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department, where she oversaw compliance with that department's consent decree addressing use of force and discriminatory policing issues. A career police officer and lawyer who has earned an international reputation for her principled leadership and reform strategies, Ms. O'Toole previously completed a six-year term as Chief Inspector of the Gardia Síochána Inspectorate, an oversight body responsible for bringing reform, best practice and accountability to the 17,000 member Irish national police service, in 2012. Prior to serving in Ireland, Ms. O'Toole rose through the ranks of local and state policing in the United States. During her police career, she was assigned to numerous patrol, investigative, undercover, supervisory and management positions. She served as Superintendent (Chief) of the Metropolitan District Commission Police and Lieutenant Colonel overseeing Special Operations in the Massachusetts State Police. She was later appointed Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety (1994) and Boston Police Commissioner (2004).

Sean Smoot

Sean Michael Smoot serves as Director and Chief Counsel for the Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois (“PB&PA”) and the Police Benevolent Labor Committee (“PBLC”).  In those capacities he is responsible for administering the provision of legal services for over 7,500 legal defense plan participants.  He also serves as a member of the Cleveland Police Department consent decree monitoring team and is a Principal Consultant with 21st Century Policing, LLC.  Mr. Smoot was a Member of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 2008-2014. He served as a police and public safety policy advisor to the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Teams. A nationally recognized subject matter expert regarding police related topics, Mr. Smoot was appointed to the Task Force on 21st Century Policing on December 18, 2014. Mr. Smoot holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Sciences from Illinois State University and his Juris Doctor degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he served as the Business Editor of the SIU Law Journal.  He is an active member of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board’s Use of Force Advisory Committee, Police Pursuit Advisory Committee, Racial Profiling Advisory Committee, and the Task Force on Police Integrity. He was appointed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to serve on the Illinois Commission on Police Professionalism.

Chief Roberto Villaseñor (ret.)

Roberto Villaseñor served with the Tucson Police Department for over 35 years, and served from May 2009 until his retirement in December 2015 as the Chief of the Department. He served in every division and bureau of the Department, to include Patrol, Investigations, Internal Affairs, Bike Patrol, Hostage Negotiations, Community Policing, Administration and Communications. As an Assistant Chief for 9 years, he commanded all four bureaus of the Department, and served as the Union Liaison involved in discipline grievances and labor negotiations. Chief Villaseñor served on several state and national boards and committees, to include the Arizona HIDTA (Chairman), The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police (President), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Executive Board, the FBI CJIS/UCR Working Group, and currently sits on the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Ethics and Integrity Advisory Panel. In 2014 Chief Villaseñor served on the President’s National Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and in 2015 was appointed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to the Arizona Criminal Justice Council. Currently a Principal Consultant at 21CP Solutions, LLC, Chief Villaseñor holds a B.S. degree from Park University and a M.Ed. from Northern Arizona University.

Terri Wilfong

Former Chief Wilfong has 33-years of law enforcement experience. She served in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Kentucky State Police and the Jefferson County Police Department. She was assigned to multiple units including Criminal Investigation, Internal Affairs, Accreditations Manager and the Hostage Negotiations Team. In 2003, the Jefferson County Police Department and the Louisville Division of Police were merged into the new Louisville Metro Police Department. Terri was selected to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the first command staff of the Louisville Metro Police Department. In 2006, she retired from Louisville Metro Police and became Chief of Police for the City of Greenville, South Carolina in 2007. Chief Wilfong has presented to the IACP, Southern Police Institute, local government hearings and both public and private entities. Chief Wilfong served as the IACP Chair of the Crime Prevention Committee and currently serves on the Conference Committee. She recently retired as Chief of Police after a seven-year tenure. Chief Wilfong spent a significant portion of her career supervising and administering Internal affairs units. Terri holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Justice Administration, both from The University of Louisville. She is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute, 95th Administrative Officer’s Course and served on the National SPIAA Executive Board. Terri joined the FBI-LEEDA faculty in 2014.