Oh yeah Baltimore’s police reform is working our just great!
Oh yeah Baltimore’s police reform is working our just great! Living near Baltimore City the “diversity” of the community is reflected within the police department. Rawlings-Blake is correct; charges were brought way too quickly and the officers were over charged. This article says nothing about the race and/or gender of the police officers.
The crime in Baltimore continues to Skyrocket. I need someone to define what a mostly peaceful protest is because I don’t think it would include looting and fires. This article sites SEVERAL times the Democrats call to defund the police.
Direct Quotes:
Despite the failed prosecution, the criminal case against the officers proved a watershed moment. The Freddie Gray case instigated a new push for stronger police accountability laws and set the precedent in Baltimore and in cities across the country for implementing significant police reform.
“That accountability ultimately led to reform, and because of that reform, we had a spotlight on the entrenched police corruption in one of the largest police agencies in the country,” Mosby told CNN.
then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the Department of Justice to order a civil rights investigation into the city’s police department. The findings revealed a “pattern-or-practice of constitutional violations,” including excessive force and racially biased arrests.
A national reckoning over policing, however, has prompted many agencies to regard Baltimore as a model, looking at its reform policies as they revise their own, Commissioner Harrison said. This comes as the Justice Department has begun ramping up efforts to hold police accountable for misconduct and constitutional violations.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has launched two separate federal civil probes into departments in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by then-officer Derek Chauvin, and in Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by officers in her apartment during a botched raid.
“We don’t know how long it’s going to take to undo the embedded corruption and racism in the Baltimore Police Department,” Kelly said.
But reform efforts are routinely eclipsed by the high level of violence that continues to plague Baltimore’s underserved communities, claiming a disproportionate number of Black lives, and perpetuating a cycle of grief and trauma. The city had its second-deadliest year on record in 2019 with 348 homicides. Baltimore recorded 335 homicides in 2020 and is headed on the same path with 167 homicides halfway into this year.
Commissioner Harrison echoed the same sentiment, arguing that government leaders must address issues such as poverty, lack of education and opportunities, and substandard housing that either “pull or push people into a life of crime for survival.”
On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray encountered police officers in a high-crime area that was notorious for drug dealing. Gray, after making eye contact with police, ran.
Baltimore recorded 342 homicides that year, a 62% increase over 2014. More than 90% of the victims were Black men.
After the case in Gray’s death was closed, then-mayor Rawlings-Blake criticized Mosby for announcing charges too quickly and “bowing to political pressure.” Prosecutors had to rely on “circumstantial evidence” because the van was not equipped with cameras to determine when and how Gray was injured, Mosby told CNN.
This year, Mosby announced she would not prosecute drug possession and other low-level offenses, asserting there is “no public safety value.” For Black Americans, Mosby said, “These offenses can lead to a death sentence.”
“There wouldn’t be such an outcry for help from the communities if there was so much change,” Long said. “Last month, I had to wrestle a young man down because he tried to shoot someone in the head. There were four officers standing on the corner who walked in the opposite direction.”
Commissioner Harrison said the incident was not brought to his attention. “We’re still changing the culture in the police department to a professional culture where officers respond appropriately, and they can get past their fears or perceptions about what they think will happen to them if they make a mistake,” he said.
“The implementation of body cameras and the updating of use-of-force policies are positive things
The city experienced mostly peaceful demonstrations last summer after Floyd was killed, with officers exhibiting a level of restraint and solidarity with protesters. Commissioner Harrison said he was able to keep a strong police presence in communities to combat crime, while other cities shifted resources to respond to moments of unrest and looting.
Earlier this month, the Baltimore City Council approved a $28 million increase in department spending, proposed by Mayor Scott, for the upcoming year. The funds will cover employee pension and health care costs after slashing $22 million from the police budget last year amid calls to defund the police.
Mayor Scott, a Baltimore native who previously served as president of the City Council, assumed office in December 2020, after campaigning on a platform to defund the police.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has been critical of Baltimore’s leadership in combating violent crime, saying the city needs to do “a better job.”
Every officer on the force has been trained in peer intervention to step in when fellow officers cross the line, a program called Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC).
#USA #TheChubbyCaucasianChristianClosetedConservative #Baltimore #Crime #GeorgeFloyd
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