Mayor Asks Justice Department to Investigate Baltimore Police

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced Wednesday morning that she has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Baltimore Police Department.

The “pattern or practice” investigation would reveal whether there is a regular practice of discrimination within the department, in violation of people’s civil rights.

The review will help Baltimore become “a safer city” and “a better city,” Rawlings-Blake said.

Federal officials will evaluate patterns such as use of excessive force; discriminatory policing; improper stops, searches or arrests; and other unconstitutional practices, Rawlings-Blake said, emphasizing she wanted to use all the resources available to “shore up that foundation that is weak right now in our city,” a foundation built on trust between police and communities.

If the justice department finds any practices of unlawful policing, it would negotiate a plan for reform with the city.

“We have to have a police department that believes wholeheartedly in community policing, working in partnership with the police to have safer communities,” Rawlings-Blake said.

Tensions have brewed between police officers and community members in Baltimore City over the years, coming to a head after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in police custody April 19, sparking riots and demonstrations about police brutality.

Newly appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited Baltimore Tuesday, where she spent five hours in various meetings with Gray’s family, elected officials, faith leaders, community activists, the mayor, police commissioner and police officers, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Lynch called the death of Gray a “flashpoint situation,” which “begins to represent so many things,” TIME reported.

After receiving the request from Baltimore’s mayor for the investigation Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement indicating Lynch was “actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore yesterday.”

The attorney general would help oversee the investigation into Baltimore Police, similar to a review her predecessor ordered of the Ferguson Police Department after Michael Brown, 18, was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014. While the officer was not charged, the justice department found after a six-month probe that the police department was violating people’s constitutional rights, according to The New York Times.

The justice department is also currently investigating the death of Gray in Baltimore to see whether his civil rights were violated. Charges were filed against six police officers last week involved in Gray’s arrest, for which Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said there was no probable cause. At least one of the officers is contesting the charges in court.

“While the past few days have been some of our darkest the city has ever seen, we’ve also seen a resilience that sets Baltimore apart in times of crisis,” Rawlings-Blake said. “We will need that resilience as we move forward” to reform the police department.

Said Rawlings-Blake: “It’s clear more needs to be done.”

• Bel Air Officer Charged in Freddie Gray Case Challenges Claims
• Why Baltimore Burned
• Criminal Charges to be Filed After Freddie Gray’s Death Ruled Homicide
• Freddie Gray Was a ‘Martyr,’ Jesse Jackson Says

Screenshot from ABC 2 News live stream of the mayor’s May 6 press conference.