Baltimore Police Used Force 2,818 Times In Six Years. They Found One Violation
A Department of Justice report found the police force holds an “us-versus-them mentality” and routinely abuses residents’ rights.
People line up for the chance to speak to representatives from the Department of Justice during a meeting held to talk about the agency’s investigation of the Ferguson police department Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. After an update on their investigation, members of the DOJ spoke with people individually about their interactions with Ferguson police and other law enforcement agencies in St. Louis County. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Justice Department report, to be formally released on Wednesday, confirms what some Baltimore residents already know ― that Baltimore police routinely and disproportionately stop, frisk and arrest poor black residents without legal justification.
“Baltimore’s legacy of government-sanctioned discrimination, serious health hazards, and high rates of violent crime have persisted and compounded for years ― making Baltimore a challenging city to police fairly and effectively,” the report says.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake requested the DOJ investigation of the police force in May 2015 after 25-year-old Freddie Gray, a black man, sustained a spinal injury following a rough ride in a police van and later died. Protests and riots rocked the city following Gray’s funeral, which residents said police handled with unnecessary aggression.
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Read the entire DOJ report below. BPD-Findings-Report