Justice Department report: Baltimore Police routinely violated civil rights
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-doj-report-20160809-story.html
Baltimore police routinely violated the constitutional rights of residents by conducting unlawful stops and using excessive force, according to two people familiar with the findings of a long-anticipated Justice Department probe expected to be released Wednesday.
The practices overwhelmingly fell on the shoulders of the city’s black residents in poor neighborhoods, according to the sources, who did not want to be identified prior to the report’s release.
Launched after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray from injuries sustained while in police custody, the wide-ranging probe uncovered deep and systemic problems with how Baltimore officers do their jobs and how they are policed themselves, the people said.
Gray’s death, which triggered rioting captured on live television, was one of several recent killings nationwide of unarmed black men by police officers. The deaths have provoked a nationwide conversation about race, discrimination and police practices. It has also exposed deep rifts between police and the communities they serve.
The results of the Justice Department’s investigation are expected to be announced Wednesday in Baltimore at a press conference attended by high-ranking federal law enforcement officials and city leaders.
Among the findings: Baltimore police too often stopped, frisked and arrested residents without legal justification, and such activities fell disproportionately on black residents and drivers, the people said.
Officers also too frequently used excessive force in situations that did not call for aggressive measures, the people said, and were found to have routinely retaliated against residents for exercising their right to free speech and free assembly.
The investigation concluded that deeply entrenched problems were allowed to fester because the department did not properly oversee, train or hold accountable officers. For example, the people said, the department lacks systems to deter and detect improper conduct, and it fails to collect and analyze data that might root out abuses or abusers.
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