The United States Justice Department has been investigating the Baltimore Police Department for over a year, and their investigation has concluded that the Maryland police force is guilty of systematic discriminatory practices such as disproportionate rates of searches, stops, and arrests of African Americans. The investigation also concluded that Baltimore Police had used excessive force against juveniles and citizens with mental disabilities.
The DOJ investigation began in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray, which sparked national uproar. CNN obtained the Justice Department’s report on Tuesday, which showed data spanning from 2010 to 2016, and which described “systemic deficiencies” in the way officers had been trained, as well as the way the force was supervised and held accountable.
Last month, the remaining officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray were acquitted of all charges. The report obtained by CNN makes no specific reference to any of the officers involved in that case. The city of Baltimore, in conjunction with the DOJ, has agreed to draw up a legally enforceable plan for reform.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said that any officer who decided “to engage in racist, sexist, discriminatory, or biased-based policing,” would be treated with zero tolerance and removed from the job. He also noted that many officers who had been involved in particularly egregious cases have already been relieved of their position on the force, but did not mention specifically who any of those officers were.
The report cited many statistics, including that nearly 44 percent of the BPD’s “zero tolerance” stops and searches were conducted in two largely African-American neighborhood of the city which account or only 11% of the city’s population. Moreover, the report noted hundreds of citizens who had been stopped at least 10 times from 2010 to 2016, and seven individuals who were stopped over 30 times. These repeated stops and searches resulted in citations or arrests on 3.7% of the time.
11,000 charges from the Baltimore Police Department have been rejected by prosecutors since 2010 because of a lack of probable cause. Commissioner Davis acknowledged the problem, and said: “Change is painful. Growth is painful. But nothing is as painful as being stuck in a place we do not belong.”
