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The Department of Justice released a report on Wednesday on the Civil Rights investigation into the Baltimore Police Department following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. The investigation was requested by the Mayor’s office and Baltimore City Council. The findings include:
- Making unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests
- Using enforcement strategies that produce severe and unjustified disparities in the rates of stops, searches and arrests of African Americans
- Using excessive force
- Retaliating against people engaging in constitutionally-protected expression
The report also stated the following:
This pattern or practice is driven by systemic deficiencies in BPD’s policies, training, supervision, and accountability structures that fail to equip officers with the tools they need to police effectively and within the bounds of federal law.
The report supports what Baltimore residents have been saying for decades. Will this report actually result in systemic change or just offer confirmation of a knowingly broken system that has no interest in being repaired?
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.
To read the report in its entirety, click here.
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