Loretta Lynch Opens Federal Inquiry Into Baltimore Police Department

By Jon Swaine, Guardian UK

08 May 15

US attorney general announces civil rights investigation into city’s police after mayor’s request for review of policing practices in wake of Freddie Gray death

he US Department of Justice will conduct a federal civil rights inquiry into the Baltimore police department, attorney general Loretta Lynch announced on Friday.

The investigation, which comes amid the prosecution of six officers over the death of Freddie Gray, will look into whether the department displayed a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional policing.

“Recent events, including the tragic death in custody of Freddie Gray, have given given rise to a serious erosion of public trust,” Lynch said at a press conference in Washington, adding that the crisis in Baltimore had caused her “profound sadness”.

Protests and riots were prompted by the death of Gray, 25, on 19 April. His neck was broken during a journey in a police van in handcuffs and leg shackles after his arrest in west Baltimore. Officers failed to seatbelt him in the vehicle.

Prosecutors said Gray’s arrest was illegal, because a knife found in his pocket for which he was later charged was in fact lawful. The van driver has been charged with murder while five other officers face a series of other charges.

The attorney general said the investigation would focus on the Baltimore department’s use of force, including deadly force, as well as searches, seizures and arrests. It will also look for signs of systematic discriminatory policing.

Lynch said on Friday her intervention was welcomed by Baltimore’s city authorities. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made a public request for the inquiry earlier this week. “We have to get it right. Failure is not an option,” Rawlings-Blake said.

As in previous civil rights inquiries into other American cities, the findings may result in the US government drawing up a series of reforms that must be made under threat of a federal lawsuit.

“If unconstitutional policies or practices are found, we will seek a court-enforceable agreement,” said Lynch.

Lynch’s department is currently negotiating a reform agreement with Ferguson, Missouri, where protests erupted after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, last August.

A federal civil rights inquiry found Ferguson’s criminal justice system systematically persecuted poorer, mostly black residents, while white authority figures exploited the system for their friends and colleagues. A series of senior officials and police officers lost their jobs over the findings.

In a statement, Justice Department officials said civil rights investigators would gather information from Baltimore residents as well as interviewing city officials and police officers. They would also review documents and past incidents as well as observing policing directly during ride-alongs.

The Community Oriented Policing Services (Cops) division of the Justice Department was already carrying out a so-called “collaborative reform initiative” with the Baltimore police department when the crisis struck.

The project, which was announced in October last year, was looking into the “use of force and interactions with citizens” by Baltimore officers. It was due to publish a report on its findings including recommendations for reforms. However, Lynch said on Friday the COPS initiative would be “rolled into” the wider civil rights inquiry by the Justice Department.

Earlier this week the Maryland governor, Larry Hogan, rescinded a state of emergency he declared in Baltimore last Monday in response to rioting and looting that left around 250 businesses and 170 cars damaged and 130 law enforcement officers injured.

The state of emergency prompted the deployment of 3,000 Maryland national guard troops, along with 1,000 additional law enforcement officers from around the state and other parts of the US.
Hogan also controversially extended the time limit of detention without charge to 48 hours, resulting in hundreds of people being jailed for two days without charging documents. The move prompted a slew of habeas corpus petitions from the Baltimore city public defenders office, leading to the release of more than 100 people arrested during the riots.

Lynch warned on Friday that reforming Baltimore’s criminal justice system would be a prolonged process.

“The challenges we face, and that Baltimore faces now, did not arise in a day, and change will not come overnight,” she said. “It will take time and a sustained effort.”