Free Press staff, wire reports

African-American residents in Baltimore are routinely subjected to unconstitutional stops, arrests and excessive force by the Baltimore Police Department, a scathing federal report released on Wednesday states.

The 163-page U.S. Justice Department report details an investigation launched after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray last year that found the Baltimore Police Department engages in a pattern of conduct that violates the Constitution and federal law.

“This pattern or practice is driven by systemic deficiencies in BPD’s policies, training, supervision and accountability structures that fail to equip officers with the tools they need to police effectively and within the bounds of the federal law,” the report said.

However, the department “has already begun laying the foundation for reform by self-initiating changes to its policies, training, data management and accountability systems,” it added.

At a news conference Wednesday, Baltimore officials said they have already taken action to overhaul the city’s police department.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the city and its police department had “not been standing still” while the Justice Department’s 14-month investigation was underway.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis told the media that the department has zero tolerance for officers who commit “egregious violations,” adding that he has fired six police officers in 2016 alone.

“Those who have left this agency deserved to leave this agency,” he said.

Many people, including some high-ranking elected officials, said the report highlights the unconstitutional and abusive practices many African-Americans have long known to be occurring.

“This report validates what so many residents in Baltimore City already know to be true — that the trust between our law enforcement officers and the communities they serve has been repeatedly violated and is in desperate need of repair,” said Democratic Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, whose 7th District includes roughly half of the city of Baltimore.

“It also underscores just how much damage we must undo, and how much work is ahead of us,” he said.

“All Baltimore City residents deserve a police department that they trust will respect and serve them, and I intend to monitor the progress of this review in the months and years ahead to ensure that the BPD works tirelessly to regain the public’s confidence.” 

Mayor Rawlings-Blake said the city is anticipating $5 million to $10 million will be needed annually to implement reforms — an estimate based on the costs other cities have faced when overhauling their police departments.

The mayor also said the city will invest in technology and infrastructure to “modernize” and install recording cameras inside police vans and continue to roll out body cameras for officers.

The department also is revising 26 police department policies, including the policy guiding use of force and overhauling the way officers are disciplined and held accountable.

“It’s so very important that we get this right,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said. “The findings are challenging to hear, but let me be clear: I never sugarcoat our problems, nor will I run away from our most pressing challenges.”

The report comes 16 months after police arrested Mr. Gray for fleeing unprovoked in a high-crime area. He suffered a severe neck injury in a police wagon while shackled and handcuffed, and died a week later.

The incident triggered rioting and protests in Baltimore, a majority-black city of about 620,000 people. It fueled a national debate on police tactics and stoked the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Six officers were charged in Mr. Gray’s death, but four trials ended without a conviction. Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges last month.

The Justice Department’s investigation found that Baltimore police routinely made unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests.

“BPD’s targeted policing of certain Baltimore neighborhoods with minimal oversight or accountability disproportionately harms African-American residents,” the report added.

The investigation found African-American pedestrians were stopped three times as often as white pedestrians after controlling for the population of the area in which the stops occurred, the report said. For example, about 44 percent of those stops occurred in two small predominantly African-American neighborhoods that contain only 11 percent of the city’s population.

Also, hundreds of individuals were stopped at least 10 times during this period, and seven were stopped more than 30 times. One African-American man in his 50s was stopped 30 times in less than four years; none of the stops resulted in a citation or criminal charge. Only 3.7 percent of the stops resulted in citations or arrests.

The investigation further found blatant and intentional discrimination of African-Americans that “erode the community trust that is critical to effective policing.”

For example, Baltimore police officers found contraband twice as often when searching white individuals compared to African-Americans during vehicle stops and 50 percent more often during pedestrian stops.

Police also have engaged in a pattern of using excessive force when dealing with individuals with mental health disabilities, and juveniles and subjects who do not immediately respond to verbal commands, the investigation found.

The department “uses overly aggressive tactics that unnecessarily escalate encounters, increase tensions and lead to unnecessary force, and fails to de-escalate encounters when it would be reasonable to do so,” the report stated.

Police in Baltimore also have frequently violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by detaining and arresting individuals who engaged in protected speech, the report stated.

To read the report, go to www.justice.gov/opa/file/883366/download