Justice Department, Baltimore strike police agreement
Four months after issuing a blistering indictment of police operations in Baltimore, the Justice Department and the city struck a deal Thursday aimed at mending the "broken'' trust between law enforcement and the community whose African-American residents were targeted with excessive force and unlawful stops.
The announcement at Baltimore's City Hall by Attorney General Loretta Lynch marked her return to the city. The nation's chief law enforcement officer visited during the first days of her tenure as authorities struggled to regain control of violent uprisings after the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015. The unarmed man was fatally injured while in police custody.
Six officers were charged in Gray's death. After three were acquitted, charges against the rest were dropped. The federal investigation into police operations resulted in a damning account of unlawful policing that disproportionately targeted black residents in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
"Twenty-one months ago, I took the oath of office as attorney general of the United States on the same day that Freddie Gray was laid to rest here in Baltimore,'' Lynch said. "That was a difficult day for a city that had already endured weeks of tension and protest as feelings of mistrust and suspicion unfortunately boiled over into violence and unrest.''
The conclusions of the subsequent federal inquiry, Lynch said, prompted weeks of "thorough, good faith negotiations'' resulting in an agreement aimed at defusing that long, tense relationship between police and residents.
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The core of the agreement calls for a training regimen that touches virtually every aspect of law enforcement operations, from how police interact daily with people on the street and critical decisions related to the use of deadly force to ensuring the secure transportation of prisoners in custody.
Gray died after his arrest in which he was shackled and loaded into a police van.
"The agreement is robust and comprehensive,'' Lynch said. "It includes a range of reforms to achieve our three main goals: to ensure effective and constitutional policing, to restore community trust in law enforcement and to advance public and officer safety.''
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh called the resolution a "great day'' for the city.
"This has been a very, very focused process,'' Pugh said, "a process we didn't think we could get through in time. I think this document represents the city of Baltimore well.''
City and federal officials moved to strike the deal before the end of the Obama administration.
"This is about fairness and understanding,'' the mayor said, referring to the circumstances of Gray's death and the unrest that followed as the impetus for the effort.
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The Maryland congressional delegation applauded the agreement, urging an expedited process for change.
"The sacred trust between the Baltimore City Police Department and the people they are sworn to protect is in desperate need of repair,'' the federal lawmakers said in a written statement. "We must ensure that the basic human rights of every Baltimore City resident are respected and upheld by the police officers charged with keeping them safe.''
The Baltimore agreement marks another resolution to more than two dozen federal investigations of police agencies across the country by the Obama administration since 2009. An equally high-profile investigation of the Chicago Police Department by the Justice Department is likely to be released within days.
The inquiries, some of which were requested by municipal leaders seeking to bring stability to troubled agencies, represent a controversial strategy that is likely to be used much more sparingly by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general nominee, has expressed his general opposition to the use of such court-enforced agreements, known as consent decrees to require law enforcement changes.