Neill Franklin

Major Franklin is a thirty-four year law enforcement veteran and current executive director for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, an international non-profit organization of more than 180,000 criminal justice professionals and others working to advance justice and public safety solutions. In 1999 he retired from the Maryland State Police where he held command positions for both the Education and Career Development Command and the Bureau of Drug and Criminal Enforcement. During this time, Major Franklin restructured the training academy, instituted and oversaw the department’s very first Domestic Violence Investigative Unit and was responsible for 17 multi-jurisdictional narcotics taskforces. After 23 years of service to the Maryland State Police, he was recruited by the Baltimore Police Department to reconstruct and command Baltimore’s Police Education and Training Section. After leaving the Baltimore Police Department in 2004, Major Franklin was appointed to serve as the commander of Special Operations for the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Police Force, encompassing criminal, narcotics and internal affairs investigations in addition to an array of Homeland Security related initiatives. Advocating for criminal justice and drug policy reform, Major Franklin has presented before an array of audiences, from the local community college, to the lecture rooms of Harvard and the Senate on Capitol Hill. He has become a regular guest on Al Jazeera, CNN, FOX and MSNBC, and his writings have been printed in the LA Times, Washington Post and New York Times. He is one of the most sought after criminal justice reform public speakers in the United States. Additionally, Major Franklin has been certified in U.S. district and Maryland circuit courts as an expert witness on police policy, training, use of force and Constitutional law. Major Franklin volunteers his time by serving on many boards that include, or have included, Children 1st (child advocate organization), Faith Based Community Council on Law Enforcement and Intelligence, Place of Grace Church, Anne Arundel Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board, Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, Murder Victim’s Families for Reconciliation and he is the past president for TurnAround, Inc. (domestic violence, sexual assault victim advocate providing counseling and shelter services).