After the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the Baltimore City Police Department. In a 163-page report, the DOJ discovered that the police department routinely violated the rights of Baltimore’s residents. This info is startling but not surprising to the black residents of Baltimore, who were overwhelmingly affected by the practices detailed in the report. The data collected by the DOJ is from 2010 and 2015 and includes interviews with community leaders, officers, prosecutors and residents.
The report also determined the following:
- Officers retaliated against residents for exercising their right to free speech and free assembly
- Officers used excessive force in matters that didn’t call for such aggressive behavior
- Officers disproportionately stopped, frisked and arrested black residents without legal justification
- The police department didn’t properly train or hold officers accountable for their actions
- The department failed to have a system that deters and detects improper conduct
- The department failed to collect and analyze data that might eliminate abuse or abusers
- The department failed to provide officers with the tools they need to effectively do their jobs
Thanks to this report confirming what many already knew, the city has started to take action. For starters, there’s now a revised use of force policy and new training. They have also redesigned and placed cameras in transport vans and created a tracking system for getting info to officers regarding training materials and policies. Both the cameras and ways of getting information were crucial parts of the Freddie Gray case.
City officials and the police department were cooperative during the investigation, and according to Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, they’ll use the report as a road map of how the city shall proceed. As for the DOJ, in a statement released by their spokesperson David Jacobs: “We will continue our independent review of this matter, assess all available materials and determine what actions are appropriate, given the strict burdens and requirements imposed by applicable federal civil rights laws.”
In the end, we can only hope that this serves as a wake-up call for not only the City of Baltimore, but also other police departments around the country. Instead of having to ask if we’re next, hopefully we can focus on next steps to reform and actual change.
