Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake requested an official investigation into the Baltimore Police Department on Wednesday. Rawlings-Blake called on the Justice Department to conduct the civil rights investigation.
Her decision comes at a time when the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray has drawn more attention to an alleged pattern of police brutality and mistreatment in the city. The city and its community has long been planning an official investigation into the police department, but was delayed due to an earlier voluntary investigation that the law enforcement invited. The mayor, however, stated that the previous investigation is insufficient.
“We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community,” said the mayor. “We have to have a foundation of trust and I believe that we need the assistance of the Department of Justice and the civil rights investigation to shore up that foundation, which is weak right now in this city.”
Recently confirmed US Attorney General Loretta Lynch understood mayor Rawlings-Blake’s decision. Lynch visited Baltimore on Tuesday and met with the mayor to discuss the alleged discrimination from the Baltimore Police Department. The Attorney General views the relationship between law enforcement and minority communities as highly important. The mayor said Ms. Lynch “understood the urgency of this request,” in regards to the investigation.
The voluntary inquiry that was previously conducted may not produce effective change, community members feel. A formal request by the mayor herself indicates distrust between the community and the city police department in actively changing policies and regulation.
Dena Iverson, spokeswoman of the Justice Department, responded to the request and stated that 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 investigation into the police department is separate from the case with Freddie Gray’s death, in which six officers were charged. Maryland State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby filed charges against six of the officers involved in Gray's arrest, arguing that the arrest was illegal. Mosby alleged that officers arrested Gray for possession of an illegal knife, even though his knife was a legal one. One of the six officers filed a court challenge on Monday, claiming the knife was in fact illegal.
