More than a year after opening investigations following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray under the supervision of Baltimore Police, the U.S. Department of Justice’s report on its probe of the BPD has been released.
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The pattern-or-practice investigation into Baltimore police began in May 2015, the month after the in-custody death of Freddie Gray. Last May, CAIR joined the NAACP and other major civil rights and advocacy organizations in welcoming a probe into the circumstances that led to Gray’s death.
The Baltimore Police Department engaged in a “pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution and federal anti-discrimination law”, the Justice Department said today in announcing a consent decree between the city and the federal government.
“It’s not going to be easy to reform the department, and it’s not going to be quick”, Rawlings-Blake said. “We commend the Justice Department and all those who played an instrumental role in bringing these truths to light”.
The Baltimore mayor and police chief stressed that while reforms were already underway, they were committed to making long-term, comprehensive changes. They promised it will serve as a blueprint for sweeping changes. And if nothing else, it should serve as a checklist of things to watch for, for police departments in other cities.
Six officers, three white and three black, were charged in the death of Gray.
“Effective proactive policing is community policing”, Gupta said. The officers behind the most egregious examples cited in the report already have been removed from the job, he said. “Indeed, one African-American man was stopped 30 times in less than four years – with none of the stops resulting in a citation or criminal charge”.
There are many more stories: Police retaliating against residents who ask questions or make complaints, a man in handcuffs being tased five to six times, an officer kicking a man who was handcuffed and following commands, a juvenile and his sister arrested for “loitering” on the steps of their own house, arrests for people “just talking” outside, officers cursing at and threatening citizens, citizens arrested for cursing at officers.
“It doesn’t matter, if you’re black you’re going to get stopped”.
“Harass you, talk to you like shit, have 1,001 police and it could be one person”.
“Even where prosecutors have provided BPD with specific information on problematic officers who routinely make improper arrests, searches, or seizures, the Department has failed to meaningfully investigate the information or take appropriate action”.
In one report uncovered by investigators, a man was tasered for “unruly behavior”, with the officer writing in the weapon field “mouth”.
“If you’re raised in that culture, you probably don’t think there is anything wrong with it”, Davis said.
During a duel news conference with both Baltimore and Justice Department officials, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said, “Change is painful”.
A disproportionate number of these stops by the Baltimore Police happened within two neighborhoods that represent only 11 percent of Baltimore’s population, but which were predominately African-American.
“Our hope is that with all the resources that the Justice Department puts out, including through findings reports and consent decrees, that these are resources that major city police departments, small and mid-size, can actually learn from and do self-evaluation”, said Gupta. Police he said have terrorized this neighborhood.
Neill Franklin, a former state trooper and city police officer, said much of the work will fall on the sergeants, the department’s frontline supervisors. “Yeah” the male officer replied, a female officer proceeding to search her anal cavity with a latex glove before releasing her without a criminal charge.
“These and similar arrests identified by our investigation reflect BPD officers exercising almost unfettered discretion to criminalize the act of standing on public sidewalks”, the report found.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the findings of the report are challenging to hear, but she believes the report will help heal the relationship between the community and police.
“They lose everything while they are sitting in jail”, she said.
“The city leadership needs to figure out what kind of police department they want”, Cherry said.
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“BPD’s failings result from deficient policies, training, oversight and accountability, and policing strategies that do not engage effectively with the community the department services”, the study reads.
