Baltimore Cops Say They’re Doing Less Out of Fear
There were 23 homicides and 39 nonfatal shootings in Baltimore in May 2014. Through 29 days of May 2015, there were 42 homicides and 104 nonfatal shootings. Gulp.Gulp indeed.
There were 23 homicides and 39 nonfatal shootings in Baltimore in May 2014. Through 29 days of May 2015, there were 42 homicides and 104 nonfatal shootings. Gulp.Gulp indeed.
They want increased productivity, whether it be car stops, field interviews, arrests — that's what they mean by measurables. You have to use whatever tools you have — whether it be bike officers, cameras, foot officers, whatever you have — to abate that problem. So you're going to have to be aggressive. (emphasis added)
LeVar Michael, Head of the mayor's Office of Nonviolent Programs, resigned on Wednesday, May 20.
Angela Johnese, Director of the Criminal Justice Office, resigned on Friday, May 22.
Heather Brantner, Coordinator of the Mayor's Sexual Assault Response Team, also resigned on Friday, May 22. (Coincidence?)
Perhaps most shocking however, was the next resignation the following week:Shannon Cosgrove, the Mayor's own Deputy Director, resigned Tuesday, May 26 (the day after Memorial Day.)
For those without a calendar in front of them, that's four high-level departures in a period of four business days.[Th]ere is something in that autopsy report that they are trying to hide. . . . It’s as if she wants to do everything to make sure our clients do not get a fair trial. . . . Nobody would know anything but the state and the defense, so they would totally hide it from the public. . . . If your case is as good as you said it was, why don’t you just show the evidence? . . . You can’t holler and say, ‘I’m about accountability for the citizens,’ and then run around filing for a protective order.
Mosby’s May 1 charges had also included “False imprisonment (8th Amendment)”, and that has been dropped. I see this as an implicit concession that Gray’s arrest was lawful, for the reasons we’ve previously espoused here Freddie Gray Case: Prosecutor Doubles Down On Wrong Law and here Confirmed – Freddie Gray’s Knife WAS Illegal and here Freddie Gray’s Knife – Why is Prosecutor Claiming Unlawful Arrest? Similarly, every one of the officers who was charged with “False imprisonment” by Mosby on May 1–meaning Rice, Nero, and Miller, the three arresting officers–has had that charge dropped by the Grand Jury. In its place has been added “Reckless endangerment (5 years), which I interpret as Mosby’s new “safe charge”–that is, the charge on which she hopes to get a conviction even after her case otherwise implodes for lack of evidence. It is notable that this “Reckless endangerment (5 years) has been added as a charge against each and every one of the six officers, none of whom were previously charged with this offense.
The Fraternal Office of Police called Mosby’s charges an “egregious rush to judgment.” It smacks more of a calculated push to the spotlight, filing charges after a mere two weeks. She conducted her own “parallel” investigation using her police integrity unit (the only unit for which she fails to list a supervisor on her website.) She received the autopsy report the same day as her press conference announcing the charges. In her haste to step into the national limelight, she circumvented normal charging procedures by grabbing a member of the sheriff’s office to file them for her. Her actions appeared calculated for maximum surprise and effect, and she got it. But she was so hasty she drew up warrants for the wrong people. And her arrest of two of the officers for making an illegal arrest was itself "illegal." Had she taken the time to discuss it with the police department, she'd have avoided an embarrassing and unjust result.I recommend you "read the whole thing," as the saying goes, at both the Baltimore Sun piece and Ms. Croyder's blog. To prepare your cognitive palette I'll simply bullet her main points from her op-ed:
Ms. Mosby faulted the police conduct at every turn. The officers who arrested him “failed to establish probable cause for Mr. Gray’s arrest, as no crime had been committed,” she said, describing the arrest as illegal. Officers accused him of possession of a switchblade, but Ms. Mosby said, “The knife was not a switchblade and is lawful under Maryland law.
This rather perfunctory statement certainly raised my eyebrows, for several reasons.Donations tax deductible
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