Justice Dept. Criticizes Baltimore Police For Discriminatory Practices
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BALTIMORE (CBSMiami/AP) — Discriminatory practices by Baltimore Police 'deeply eroded' their relationship with the community, a Department of Justice official said Wednesday.
The Justice Department's top civil rights official says the Baltimore Police Department has agreed to negotiate with the agency on reforms to policies that have led to discrimination against African-Americans.
Related: Baltimore Officer Cleared Of Crime In Freddie Gray Death
Vanita Gupta said during a news conference Wednesday that these negotiations would provide a framework for a formal consent decree between the Justice Department and the police department. That decree, which would lay out reforms that could be enforced by the courts, likely will not be finalized for many months.
Gupta's remarks came as she announced the results of a yearlong investigation into the police department's policies. She says there have been longstanding systemic problems with the Baltimore Police Department, including excessive force and the targeting of African-Americans.
The numbers in the Justice Department's scathing report on the Baltimore Police Department are startling, showing that officers often make stops with dubious justification, sometimes targeting the same people in mostly poor, black neighborhoods. Here's a closer look at the figures:
410 — Number of people stopped at least 10 times from 2010-15. At least 95 percent were black.
34 — Number of black residents stopped at least 20 times during 2010-15.
30 — Number of times one black man was stopped in less than four years. None of the stops resulted in charges.
7 — Number of African-Americans who were stopped 30 times or more from 2010-15.
0 — The number of people of any race other than black that were stopped more than 12 times.
Related: Freddie Gray: Prosecutors Drop All Remaining Charges Without Conviction
The investigation came as an aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray - a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken while under arrest and on the way to the police station. Gray's death from spinal injuries a week after his April 12th arrest provoked riots on the streets of West Baltimore and in other parts of the U.S. His death quickly became a rallying cry against police brutality and social inequality in the city.
Click here to read the full Department of Justice report or click here for a summary of the report.
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