2015/5/6-Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday called on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a full-scale civil rights investigation into the “pattern and practices” of the city police department — a probe that would examine excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests.

“We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community,” Rawlings-Blake said. “I’m willing to do what it takes to reform my department.” Justice Department spokesperson Dena Iverson said the agency has received the mayor’s request.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch “is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore,” Iverson said.

The mayor’s call comes after City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and 10 members of the City Council sent a letter to Lynch Tuesday asking for a full-scale investigation. All are Democrats. The agency is already conducting a “collaborative review” with Baltimore police that does not carry the weight of law.

Such reviews differ from full-scale civil rights investigations because they are agreed to by local officials and are not enforced by court order. “The systemic mistreatment of members of the African-American community by some officers within the Baltimore Police Department helped contribute to a strained relationship between the police and the citizens who depend on them for protection and service,” Young wrote. “The City of Baltimore is in desperate need of a binding federal review of the police department in order to repair this fractured relationship.”

Young has called for a full-scale civil rights investigation for months, and some community activists have asked for such an intervention for years. Such broad inquiries by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division examine whether officers have a history of discrimination or using force beyond standard guidelines.

They typically lead to consent decrees and years of court monitoring. Twenty federal probes into police departments have started in the past six years, in cities such as Cleveland and New Orleans. Rawlings-Blake previously asked the federal government to enter into a collaborate oversight agreement with the police department work, hoping to achieve reform under Commissioner Anthony W. Batts’ leadership.

Batts disbanded a tough-on-crime police unit called the Violent Crimes Impact Section, the source of many citizen complaints. And the mayor last year released a plan titled “Preventing Harm” that aimed to cut down on police misconduct. The mayor also has pledged to institute a body camera program by the end of the year.

Rawlings-Blake has repeatedly pointed out that excessive force complaints and lawsuits against the police have declined under her tenure. “We have seen results from these efforts,” she said. Nevertheless, the agency has been thrust into the national spotlight since the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who suffered injuries in police custody that proved to be fatal last month. Six officers face criminal charges in that case.

Lynch visited Baltimore yesterday, meeting with the city officials, community leaders and Gray’s family, and pledged to improve the police department. The FBI and the Justice Department are investigating the death of Gray for potential civil rights violations. Gov. Larry Hogan said an enhanced Justice Department review is “probably a step in the right direction.” Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, said in a statement he “strongly supports” a full-scale investigation into the police department.

“We must know whether there is a pattern or practice by the department that systemically violates people’s rights,” Cummings said. “Mr. Gray’s death is only the most recent case underscoring the need to examine our police department from top to bottom.” A Baltimore Sun investigation found that since 2011 the city paid $5.7 million in court judgments and settlements in 102 civil suits alleging police brutality and other misconduct. Nearly all of the people involved in incidents leading to those lawsuits were cleared of criminal charges.

Source: Baltimore Sun