The Baltimore Police are working on uprooting corruption within its department after a damning DOJ report came out. |
I remember watching an episode of Nightline on ABC. Byron Pitts, a native of Baltimore done a ride along with the law trying to uncover a pattern of corruption within the police department.
This week marked a bombshell in the wake of Freddie Gray murder trial. The six officers will walk but the department they represent will have a top-to-bottom scrubbing by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice determined that Baltimore Police officers were really out of line.
Damning evidence determined that the Baltimore city police were engaging in pattern of bias stops and unconstitutional searches of Black residents. Some of these stops were merited on perception of criminal activity without proof of an event occurring.
The riots of 2015. |
There were systemic deficiencies in training, policies and accountability structures. The police department failed to equip officers with the tools they need to police effectively.
Baltimore has a 70 percent Black population. The police department is 86 percent White. The DOJ had finalized a pattern of behavior that involved officers and supervisors saying NIGGER towards suspects and President Barack Obama.
Martin O'Malley, then mayor, governor and failed presidential candidate enforced the "zero tolerance" enforcement practices that emphasized on stops, searches and arrest for repeated violations of constitutional rights that eroded the community's trust.
Outgoing mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake continued the "zero tolerance" enforcement throughout her term until the Freddie Gray incident.
Over 44 percent of the stops occurred in two small predominately Black neighborhoods that contained only 11 percent of the city's populations. The affluent neighborhoods of Baltimore.
Hundreds of individuals were stopped at least 10 times during this period, and seven people were stopped more than 30 times.
Only 3.7 percent of these stops ended with a citation or an arrest.
Some of the officers used excessive force and escalated verbal exchanges with people they've stopped. Instead of brushing it off, officers would threaten arrest or brutally assault the person.
Some of the suspects who were juvenile were treated like adults. They were searched without being read their rights.
They treated a rape victim who was a transgender woman as a man who shouldn't been flaunting his junk on the streets. A transgender prostitute would be stripped searched by men. Some of the rape cases remained open because the officers questioned the victim's account because they were prostitutes.
When some residents filmed officers, cursed or pointed their third digit at officers, they were detained and cited for disorderly conduct. Under the First Amendment, you were allowed. The officers were in the wrong by confiscating the recording, arresting an individuals because he said "fuck the cops".
Marilyn Mosby is determined to uproot injustices caused by officers and is determined to restore order and respect within the Baltimore Police Department. She felt that the DOJ's report satisfy claims made by residents in the city about unfair practices.
Conservatives have attacked her for being in the forefront of #BlackLivesMatter. As state prosecutor, she had made it a mission to hold those responsible for the deaths of individuals held in police custody.
Police commissioner Kevin Davis said that any officer who "chose to engage in racist, sexist, discriminatory or biased-based policing" will be under the radar.
This was never mentioned by conservatives or Republican lawmakers. After all, they are supposed to be the group that supports the cops and stand by this "law and order".
Now if you're a supporter of the police being innocent of horrific crimes, read from The Drudge Report, support the ignorance of Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, support the racial arsonist Colin Flaherty and blog, determined to give corrupt cops the "benefit of doubt", share racially insensitive emails about Black people, President Barack Obama or other groups and listen to agitators like that old fart Rush Limbaugh and "Softball" Hannity, you're likely a Donald Trump and Mike Pence supporter.