And here's a shocker. It's racially charged bullshit!
The U.S. Department of Justice concludes in a study that the Baltimore Police Department routinely violated citizens' constitutional rights and describes the relationship between the community and the police as "broken."
Investigators started the probe after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man fatally injured while in police custody.
"After engaging in a thorough investigation, initiated at the request of the City of Baltimore and BPD (Baltimore City Police Department), the Department of Justice concludes that there is reasonable cause to believe that BPD engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution or federal law," reads the 162-page report released to the public Tuesday night.
The report said the police department makes unconstitutional searches and arrests, uses excessive force, uses "enforcement strategies that produce severe and unjustified disparities in the rates of stops, searches and arrests of African Americans," and retaliates against people practicing freedom of expression, which is protected by the Constitution.
The Department of Justice opened an investigation on May 8, 2015, after the death of Gray, 25, who died in a hospital a week after his arrest. His spine was 80% severed after he was held in the back of a police van during a bumpy ride.
The media relations team of the police department could not be reached Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, before the public release of the study but after news organizations reported that the release was pending, Det. Niki Fennoy said the department had not been made aware of the findings and had no comment.
The report concludes that the relationship between the police department and Baltimore's residents is "broken" and said that investigators discovered over the course of many interviews that people in impoverished, minority communities often felt "belittled, disbelieved and disrespected" by police officers.
Investigators discovered an "us versus them" mentality in the department, and when they approached one supervisor about community-oriented policing, were told, "I don't pander to the public."
The U.S. Department of Justice concludes in a study that the Baltimore Police Department routinely violated citizens' constitutional rights and describes the relationship between the community and the police as "broken."
Investigators started the probe after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man fatally injured while in police custody.
"After engaging in a thorough investigation, initiated at the request of the City of Baltimore and BPD (Baltimore City Police Department), the Department of Justice concludes that there is reasonable cause to believe that BPD engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution or federal law," reads the 162-page report released to the public Tuesday night.
The report said the police department makes unconstitutional searches and arrests, uses excessive force, uses "enforcement strategies that produce severe and unjustified disparities in the rates of stops, searches and arrests of African Americans," and retaliates against people practicing freedom of expression, which is protected by the Constitution.
The Department of Justice opened an investigation on May 8, 2015, after the death of Gray, 25, who died in a hospital a week after his arrest. His spine was 80% severed after he was held in the back of a police van during a bumpy ride.
The media relations team of the police department could not be reached Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, before the public release of the study but after news organizations reported that the release was pending, Det. Niki Fennoy said the department had not been made aware of the findings and had no comment.
The report concludes that the relationship between the police department and Baltimore's residents is "broken" and said that investigators discovered over the course of many interviews that people in impoverished, minority communities often felt "belittled, disbelieved and disrespected" by police officers.
Investigators discovered an "us versus them" mentality in the department, and when they approached one supervisor about community-oriented policing, were told, "I don't pander to the public."
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