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Baltimore police officers in riot gear look toward protestors along Reisterstown Road near Mondawmin Mall on April 27, 2015, in Baltimore. A group of young protestors clashed with police in the streets near Mondawmin Mall in the afternoon following Freddie Gray’s funeral. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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DOJ: Baltimore Police Department is racist

New report details rampant unconstitutional, illegal practices

Clinton Yates @clintonyates

Up Next From Culture

    1:44 PMA new report released Monday by the Department of Justice confirms what many in the black community have said for years: the Baltimore Police Department has been violating people’s constitutional rights for some time, based on race. The 164-page report outlines a pattern of illegal behavior, a culture of discrimination and “systemic deficiencies (that) lead to constitutional violations and erode community trust,” according to the report.

    The obvious reaction here is: no shit. One need not look any further than a half-dozen officers receiving no punishment in the death of Freddie Gray Jr., recently to understand how a system built to protect law enforcement first, residents second and more cynically, if you’re a black resident, not at all.

    “Public trust is critical to effective policing and public safety,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement released shortly after the report went public. “Our investigation found that Baltimore is a city where the bonds of trust have been broken, and that the Baltimore Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful and unconstitutional conduct, ranging from the use of excessive force to unjustified stops, seizures and arrests. The results of our investigation raise serious concerns, and in the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue working tirelessly to ensure that all Baltimoreans enjoy the safety, security and dignity they expect and deserve. I am grateful to all of the community members, local officials, faith leaders and current and former police officers who spoke with us during the course of our inquiry, and whose input will remain critical to our efforts as we move forward. Additionally, I commend the city and BPD for its proactive and collaborative approach to our inquiry and for demonstrating a strong commitment to restoring public confidence by already taking steps to make needed changes. I look forward to continuing our work together to implement urgent and necessary reforms.”

    It’ll take us a while to comb through the entirety of the document, but some reporters have already highlighted some extremely disturbing details. Huffington Post‘s Ryan Reilly excerpted one particular passage that appears to indicate an extremely problematic ground rule.

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    Of course, there are always people who don’t understand how the concept of institutional injustice works and why the very underpinnings of the system are based on the basic notion of white supremacy. The idea is basic: If you are black and are believed to be doing anything wrong, any punishment up to and including death is not only what you deserve but effectively, also your fate. Hence, #BlackLivesMatter.

    You never want to call it a victory when the simple fact of being heard and believed that the very people paid by tax dollars to protect you are in fact the ones preying on you is validated. But for anyone who’s grown up black in the United States of America, you know that Baltimore isn’t even close to the only place where this has been going down for decades, at minimum.

    Clinton Yates is a tastemaker at Andscape. He likes rap, rock, reggae, R&B and remixes — in that order.