The department since has worked closely with the Baltimore police, which set up a team of officers and officials to deal directly with federal investigators.
Advertisement
The Baltimore Police Department has routinely violated the constitutional rights of residents, according to a US Justice Department investigation stemming from the death of black detainee Freddie Gray past year.
In May, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake described the community’s relationship with its police department as “fractured” and called on the Justice Department to conduct a full civil rights investigation.
The probe into the Baltimore Police Department began after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal injuries while being transported in a Baltimore police van.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby issued a statement Tuesday evening.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the report is expected to be released Wednesday.
The incident triggered rioting and protests in Baltimore, a majority black city of about 620,000 people. The report noted that one African American man in his mid-50s was stopped 30 times in less than four years.
“Racial disparities in stops and arrests of suspects by police, poor training, a lack of effective community policing, inferior internal-affairs investigations of alleged misconduct by officers and a historical failure to fully investigate allegations of sex crimes”, are among the areas examined, according to the Journal. The report says African-Americans make up 64 percent of the city’s population but 86 percent of criminal charges. The report found that police often stopped, frisked and arrested people without reasonable suspicion, and targeted black residents and drivers at an out-sized rate.
Although the department has publicly denounced these practices after a 2010 settlement with the NAACP, which sued the department over the policing strategy, “the legacy of the zero tolerance era continues to influence officer activity and contribute to constitutional violations”, the report says.
The report also says officers routinely use unreasonable and excessive force, including against juveniles and civilians who aren’t unsafe or posing an immediate threat.
Lt. Rice had ordered two bicycle police officers to chase Freddie Gray after the latter had fled for no apparent reason at the sight of the police officers.
The report hammers the department’s use-of-force practices. At least 15 of those stops, he said, were to check for outstanding warrants.
Officers use force even when not required, according to the report.
The investigation concluded that deeply entrenched problems were allowed to fester because the department did not properly oversee, train or hold accountable officers.
Advertisement
In the wake of the unrest, Lt. Rice and three other officers who were hit with manslaughter, misconduct and other felony charges, were suspended without pay.
