Pugh: Turning Around Baltimore Police Means 'All Hands On Deck'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore City Police Department has vowed to make major changes in the wake of the release of a scathing report from the Department of Justice that found "systemic deficiencies" in the agency's policing methods, including racial bias, excessive force and a failure to properly investigate sexual assaults.
In light of the report's findings, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other city leaders have promised an overhaul aimed at addressing and correcting those flaws. "We will put in place a concrete plan for changes as well as concrete plans for a new culture," the mayor said.
But those reforms won't happen right away, experts contend, and they may require the agency to get rid of personnel who have been part of the problem. "It's not going to happen overnight," said John Ward, director of the division of public safety leadership at Johns Hopkins University. "You can't flip a switch on these things."
"They're going to have to purge, fire some of the people that aren't going to be part of the solution," Ward said.
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Ward told WJZ's Meghan McCorkell the department needs to recruit the right people for the force and promote officers who do the job well. Still, that doesn't mean the changes sought will be reflected immediately.
"Let's say in the best case, five years," said Ward. "I've seen departments take 20 years."
The Justice Department has entered into similar reform agreements with more than a dozen police agencies across the country. Its latest report follows the recent decision by State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby to drop charges against all remaining officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, following the full acquittals of three officers.
Back in 2003, the Detroit Police Department signed a federal agreement. Since then, use of force incidents have dropped dramatically. Police in Cleveland report improvements in community relationships since they signed a consent decree last year. The city council in Ferguson, Missouri also just signed an agreement after the police shooting of Michael Brown sparked violent protests.
Here in Maryland, Prince George's County Police -- where Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis once worked -- also completed a DOJ overhaul. "What I know is that we came out of that consent decree a better and stronger agency," said Davis.
That's a goal he shares for the city of Baltimore.
Catherine Pugh, who appears poised to succeed Rawlings-Blake in the mayor's office, said complying with the Justice Department mandate will be a community effort.
"This is all in," she told WJZ's Ava-Joye Burnett. "It's the private sector, it's the public sector, it's the community and it's the police department that we can work together towards making Baltimore an example of what police departments and community relations should be."
In a statement released Thursday evening, State's Attorney's Office spokesperson Rochelle Ritchie said the comments made in an email about a sexual assault victim were not brought to the agency's attention before the DOJ report was made public
"The unconfirmed comments made in an email about a sexual assault victim, in the recently released Department of Justice investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, were not brought to our attention prior to this report being released.
"As indicated in the report, this allegation represents a time frame between 2010-2015. Because this administration began in January 2015, which coincides with the time frame of the investigation, we intend to look into this matter.
"Insensitive comments, such as the one quoted in the DOJ report, work against our efforts to successfully and ethically prosecute cases of sexual assault."
The reforms are expected to cost between $5-$10 million a year.
Final negotiations for the consent decree are expected to take place in November.