Please read; re: Maryland PD

[summer]

I c/p'd here the two things that are making me rage because you can't see bolded on your phones. I hope people don't start getting sick of this topic because it's really just getting started.  



"Mr. Gray was not the first black man in Baltimore to emerge from a police van with a spinal cord injury. Jeffrey Alston, who became paralyzed from the neck down after a van ride, settled for $6 million in 2004. The following year, Dondi Johnson, also paralyzed after a van ride, won a jury award of $7.4 million, though it was reduced on appeal.





Kerry D. Staton, the lawyer who handled both cases, said Mr. Johnson, like Mr. Gray, had not been belted in. Mr. Staton said officers had intentionally given Mr. Johnson what is known as a “rough ride, where he was thrown across the vehicle into the opposite wall and broke his neck.”


And this:

"In Mr. Gray’s case, the police acknowledged that three bicycle officers pursued him after a lieutenant “made eye contact” with him and he ran away."

I can't.

NY Times

BALTIMORE — For nearly two years, ever since her brother Tyrone West died after a struggle with the police, a 35-year-old preschool teacher named Tawanda Jones has been in the streets here on Wednesday nights, protesting. Her message: “We need killer cops in cellblocks.”



Though the officers involved in Mr. West’s July 2013 death have been cleared of wrongdoing, his case and other police-involved killings here are woven into Baltimore’s psyche, part of what Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake calls the “broken relationship” between residents of this majority black city and a police department with a history of aggressive, sometimes brutal behavior.



That history helps explain the long-simmering anger that boiled over this week with the death on Sunday of Freddie Gray, 25, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury in police custody. Despite efforts by city officials to improve relations — Mayor Rawlings-Blake, alarmed by wrongful-death lawsuits, last year asked for a Justice Department review — thousands have staged protests that are expected to continue through the weekend.


The tensions date back at least to 1980, when the N.A.A.C.P. called for a federal investigation into police brutality, and continued into the past decade with a crime-fighting strategy known as “zero-tolerance policing” that led to mass arrests. Since 2010, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, just one Baltimore police officer has been prosecuted for killing a civilian: an off-duty officer who was convicted of shooting a Marine Corps veteran outside a bar.



“This is part of a decades-long, growing frustration over the extent to which police in Baltimore have adopted a highly militarized approach to policing residents of our city,” said Sonia Kumar, a staff lawyer with the A.C.L.U. of Maryland, which brought a 2006 lawsuit to change some police practices here.



On Friday, the police said Mr. Gray should have received medical treatment immediately at the scene of the arrest, and confirmed he was riding in a van unbuckled, a violation of department policy.




“Over the years, we have had a number of incidents that have tarnished this badge and the reputation of this department,” said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, adding, “I have been a reform commissioner.”



The commissioner said he had fired 50 officers for misconduct, reduced excessive force and improved training since taking over the department in 2012. He dismissed calls for his resignation, saying, “That’s not going to happen.”


Because there is no national database of police-involved killings, it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about the use of deadly force by the Baltimore police. However, a New York Times analysis of some Justice Department data suggests that Baltimore police officers have killed more people than the police have in a number of other cities similar in size.



Baltimore police officers killed 127 people over two decades ending in 2012, with a marked uptick in 2007 and 2008, according to the F.B.I.’s voluntary survey of justifiable homicides by the police. The police in Las Vegas, who cover that metropolitan area with a similar-size force, killed 100 people over the same period.




In other similar cities that reported to the survey each year, including Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Seattle — where the Justice Department found in 2011 a “pattern and practice of excessive force” — none reported more than half the number in Baltimore.



Last year, The Baltimore Sun reported that taxpayers had paid $5.7 million since 2011 in judgments or settlements in 102 lawsuits alleging police misconduct. A. Dwight Pettit, a lawyer who specializes in police misconduct and represents Tyrone West’s family in a wrongful-death suit against the city, said he had “20 open cases right now,” and was flooded with requests for representation.



Mr. Gray was not the first black man in Baltimore to emerge from a police van with a spinal cord injury. Jeffrey Alston, who became paralyzed from the neck down after a van ride, settled for $6 million in 2004. The following year, Dondi Johnson, also paralyzed after a van ride, won a jury award of $7.4 million, though it was reduced on appeal.


Kerry D. Staton, the lawyer who handled both cases, said Mr. Johnson, like Mr. Gray, had not been belted in. Mr. Staton said officers had intentionally given Mr. Johnson what is known as a “rough ride, where he was thrown across the vehicle into the opposite wall and broke his neck.”



Civil rights advocates and some elected officials here trace the tensions to “zero-tolerance policing,” a crime-fighting strategy championed by Martin O’Malley, the former governor and a potential Democratic candidate for president, when he was the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. Aides of Mr. O’Malley note that on his watch, the number of annual homicides dropped below 300 per year for the first time in more than a decade, and that violent crime in Baltimore dropped by 41 percent. Steve Kearney, a top aide to Mr. O’Malley when he was the mayor, described the policies as “appropriate for the time.”



But zero-tolerance policing led to mass arrests of people for small infractions, as well as intense “community frustration,” Ms. Kumar of the A.C.L.U. said. “Countless innocent people,” she added, “were getting caught up in this dragnet style of policing.”



In 2006, the A.C.L.U and the N.A.A.C.P. sued Baltimore, alleging a broad pattern of abuse. The city settled in 2010 for $870,000 and publicly abandoned zero-tolerance policing. But people here say tensions persist.



In Mr. Gray’s case, the police acknowledged that three bicycle officers pursued him after a lieutenant “made eye contact” with him and he ran away. The Gray family’s lawyer, William Murphy Jr., has said Mr. Gray was pursued for “running while black.” That is one reason his case has provoked such an uproar here.


“I just want them to be able, when they come into our community, not to be afraid of us,” said Darlene Cain, a nurse’s assistant who founded an advocacy group, Mothers on the Move, after her son Dale Graham was killed by a Baltimore police officer in 2008. “Be able to say, ‘Hello, good morning.’ Don’t just sit in your car and look at us like we’re the next person you want to lock up.”


Mayor Rawlings-Blake said that on her watch, citizen complaints alleging police discourtesy or excessive force had declined. She also testified before the Maryland General Assembly in favor of a bill that would make it easier to investigate officer misconduct; the measure, strongly opposed by the police union, never made it out of committee.



But two measures — one doubling the maximum awards in civil lawsuits by those injured by the police, and another requiring reporting of police-involved killings in Maryland — did pass, and Gov. Larry Hogan said he intended to sign them into law.



Against this backdrop, Baltimore residents like Ms. Jones had become increasingly vocal in recent years, long before the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by the police in Ferguson, Mo., last year put police treatment of black men on the national radar screen.



Ms. Jones’s brother, Mr. West, died after a struggle with Baltimore police officers during a July 2013 traffic stop. The state medical examiner ruled that he had died from a heart attack brought on by an underlying heart ailment and dehydration from the summer heat, and the city prosecutor declined to press charges.



But witnesses said Mr. West had been beaten; Ms. Jones said the funeral director “said my brother was beat so bad we’re going to need a closed casket.” Ms. Rawlings-Blake commissioned an independent review, which concluded that while the police had not used excessive force, missteps by the officers had created a situation that “escalated into dangerous chaos.”


Ms. Jones and relatives have protested every Wednesday night, often in front of City Hall, for more than 80 weeks, vigils they call “West Wednesdays.” Ms. Kumar, the A.C.L.U. lawyer, credits the family with raising awareness here and, now that national attention is on police-involved killings, setting the stage for the uproar over Mr. Gray’s death.



Mr. Pettit agrees.



“So much is happening,” he said. “Lawyers like myself, community activists, for years we were screaming in the dark, and nobody was listening to us.”

[underwaterrhymes]

I'm just sick and so fucking angry.

I don't know what we do to fix this? How do we fix this?

[caramia]

Buzzfeed had an article about police departments giving suspects "rough rides" here: www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/baltimore-death-shines-light-on-brutal-police-rough-rides

[IIOY]

H's cousin said the cops he worked with used to give rough rides, albeit far less violently than what is described here, with guys they picked up on domestic violence calls.

[secretlyevil]

I am wretchedly sick over this. No one in this country, no one, should be treated in this manner by police.

[ECB]

What about:

Mr. Gray was not the first black man in Baltimore to emerge from a police van with a spinal cord injury. Jeffrey Alston, who became paralyzed from the neck down after a van ride, settled for $6 million in 2004. The following year, Dondi Johnson, also paralyzed after a van ride, won a jury award of $7.4 million, though it was reduced on appeal.


Kerry D. Staton, the lawyer who handled both cases, said Mr. Johnson, like Mr. Gray, had not been belted in. Mr. Staton said officers had intentionally given Mr. Johnson what is known as a “rough ride, where he was thrown across the vehicle into the opposite wall and broke his neck.”

doesn't say to the cops "Huh, maybe we should stop"?  But everyone thinks "it won't happen to me/ under my watch", so this shit keeps happening.

Cops deal w/ assholes every day.  I get it that they perhaps are tired of it, tired of arresting the same people over and over, whatever - but.... this is the JOB YOU SIGNED UP FOR.  Cops need to find a different outlet for their anger and frustration  And I think ALL police depts across the country need to find a way to help cops more effectively deal with their anger or whatever it is that makes them continue practices like this. 

 

[cookiemdough]

I am trying to understand the basis for arrest. He ran but did they uncover any drugs or illegal weapons on him? Why was he put into the van in the first place.

[cookiemdough]

And as someone who lives not so far away I am shocked at the number of police related deaths. They have managed to keep that pretty low key.

[karinothing]

Apr 25, 2015 4:38:11 GMT -5 IIOY said:

H's cousin said the cops he worked with used to give rough rides, albeit far less violently than what is described here, with guys they picked up on domestic violence calls.

I think rough rides are common. I don't want to trivialize the situation, but when I was younger and arrested, the cop slammed on the brakes while driving throwing me into the front grate, no seat belt and handcuffs means my face smashing into the barrier. All because he didn't think I was listening to his lecture.

[summer]

Apr 25, 2015 6:58:21 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Apr 25, 2015 4:38:11 GMT -5 IIOY said:

H's cousin said the cops he worked with used to give rough rides, albeit far less violently than what is described here, with guys they picked up on domestic violence calls.

I think rough rides are common. I don't want to trivialize the situation, but when I was younger and arrested, the cop slammed on the brakes while driving throwing me into the front grate, no seat belt and handcuffs means my face smashing into the barrier. All because he didn't think I was listening to his lecture.

A badge doesn't give you the right to do this to people.

[karinothing]

Apr 25, 2015 7:05:56 GMT -5 summer said:

Apr 25, 2015 6:58:21 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I think rough rides are common. I don't want to trivialize the situation, but when I was younger and arrested, the cop slammed on the brakes while driving throwing me into the front grate, no seat belt and handcuffs means my face smashing into the barrier. All because he didn't think I was listening to his lecture.

A badge doesn't give you the right to do this to people.

Agreed, I was 16 and scared. Wish I would have filed a complaint. I dont know why some cops think they have the right to treat people like this. And no clue how to fix it

[NewOrleans]

He was followed and then taken because he shunned eye contact?

I don't know what to say about what I just read.

[irishbride2]

All of these stories have angered and depressed me. But this one really hurts too. I picture him as the 18 year old kid in my class.

People suck.

[annieblah]

As I said before, police in this country are out of control. Rough rides are not acceptable. Who do police think they are?.

[cookiemdough]

I am still struggling with the basis of arrest.

[terpsfan]

The concept of a rough ride just seems like a legal nightmare.. Apparently is if all that $ going towards settlement.

I'm curious to see how much attention this gets outside of Baltimore city. I know a lot of the outside mentality is that the west "deserves" what it gets as it does it to themselves. Not my opinion..

[NewOrleans]

BALTIMORE (AP) — In the clearest acknowledgement of failure yet, Baltimore police said Friday that Freddie Gray should have received medical attention at the spot where he was arrested — before he was put inside a police van.

Officers missed "multiple" opportunities to give him medical attention and once inside the van, Gray should've been buckled into a seat belt. The department's acknowledgement came at a news conference after a week of intense scrutiny and near-daily demonstrations over what protesters say is police mistreatment of blacks in Baltimore and throughout the country.

Gray was taken into custody April 12 and at some point — either during his arrest or inside the van — he suffered a mysterious spinal injury that led to his death. Authorities have not explained how or when it occurred. Six officers have been suspended with pay.

Commissioner Anthony Batts said it was possible Gray was injured before the van ride, but also possible he suffered in a "rough ride" — where officers hit the brakes and take sharp turns to injure suspects in the back of vans.

Gray, who is black, was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away, police said. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into a police van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.

Gray was not buckled in, a violation of the police department's policy.

Gray asked for medical help several times, and after a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called.

"We know he was not buckled in the transportation wagon as he should have been. There's no excuse for that, period," Batts said. "We know our police employees failed to give him medical attention in a timely manner multiple times."

Deputy police commissioner Kevin Davis said Friday that Gray should have received medical attention at the spot of his arrest. Bystander video shows Gray screaming as officers carried him to the van, his legs appearing limp.

Batts said the investigation is being refined and the picture is getting "sharper and sharper." He did not elaborate.

As for some calls for his resignation, he said: "That's not going to happen."

Protesters promised their biggest march Saturday, when they would try to "shut down" the city.

The president of a black lawyers' group predicted thousands of people would turn out, when good weather is forecast and the Baltimore Orioles host the Boston Red Sox.

"Things will change on Saturday, and the struggle will be amplified," said Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice.

Shabazz rejected the notion that he was an outside agitator who would stir up trouble.

The mayor thanked protesters for being peaceful so far and urged calm.

"I will not deny that here in Baltimore we have had a very long and complicated history on issues such as these," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. "But it's important to remember that we have an equally long history of peaceful and legal protest."

She expects the results of the investigation to be turned over to prosecutors in a week, and they will decide whether any criminal charges will be filed. There is no timetable for when that will. Police said prosecutors will likely ask them to do more investigating.

Asked if Gray's possible "rough ride" is a one-off, the mayor said: "It's clearly not a one-off."

"The reason we have the policy around seat belts in the police vans is because of an incident that happened previously," she said, referring to Dondi Johnson. He died of a fractured spine in 2005 after he was arrested for urinating in public and transported without a seat belt, with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The leader of a group of local ministers called on Batts to resign immediately.

"It seems that no one in the police department can explain what happened," said the Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Baltimore.

He said the police department is "in disarray" and Batts has shown a "lack of viable leadership capabilities."

The mayor appeared to back the police commissioner at her own news conference, and Batts defended his record, saying he was brought on in 2012 to reform the department. Since then, he has fired 50 employees and reduced the number of officer-involved shootings and excessive force complaints.

[orangeblossom]

Lots of people avoid eye contact with police. Dealing with police as a black man is scary. Sorry, it is. Who knows what he's seen of other people being stopped by police. I'd probably run too.

There's a big protest planned for today. I truly hope it's peaceful. Baltimore is not the type of place, you want riots to pop off. I mean no place is, really, but Baltimore, nope, bad, bad, bad.

[irishbride2]

Apr 25, 2015 9:43:17 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Lots of people avoid eye contact with police. Dealing with police as a black man is scary. Sorry, it is. Who knows what he's seen of other people being stopped by police. I'd probably run too.

There's a big protest planned for today. I truly hope it's peaceful. Baltimore is not the type of place, you want riots to pop off. I mean no place is, really, but Baltimore, nope, bad, bad, bad.

I keep thinking back to what our school used to teach about cop interactions. Two of our APs (black men as well) were very big on having conversations with young black men about how to act around cops. It was a constant topic of discussion. And not making eye contact was one of the things they talked about. It makes me sick that it had to be discussed so frequently. And it makes me sick that the worst case scenario came true for one of those kids. But back then I never even considered this as a worst case scenario option (privilege and all). I thought we were guiding these kids to not be arrested for something they didn't do. THAT was the worst case in my head. 

[orangeblossom]

Also, him not looking at police or looking and then running off, goes back to what we've talked about many times here. The "how dare you not look at me, how dare you sass me, how dare you question me" mentality, that some cops feel is due to them.

I'm not saying respect is not due, because they do a hard job, but it's the one's who think they are above the law, and instead of protecting, make citizen cower to them

I hate to go back to a tv show, but Scandal's episode where they tackled police brutality, and the dirty cop gave his speech, unfortunately, some cops do think that way, and that leads to sorts of problems.

[suzyp]

Apr 25, 2015 8:48:16 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

I am still struggling with the basis of arrest.

Me too. This has been my problem since the first article I read stated that the cops saw him, he saw them, he ran, so they chased him. Say what now?  So they chased him, found drugs on him and now he's dead? WTMF?

[pixy0stix]

I'm reading and processing. I really have nothing articulate to say about this, other than when did we lose our humanity?

[cookiemdough]

Apr 25, 2015 9:54:30 GMT -5 suzyp said:

Apr 25, 2015 8:48:16 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

I am still struggling with the basis of arrest.

Me too. This has been my problem since the first article I read stated that the cops saw him, he saw them, he ran, so they chased him. Say what now?  So they chased him, found drugs on him and now he's dead? WTMF?

Did they find drugs on him?

[orangeblossom]

Apr 25, 2015 10:18:55 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

Apr 25, 2015 9:54:30 GMT -5 suzyp said:

Me too. This has been my problem since the first article I read stated that the cops saw him, he saw them, he ran, so they chased him. Say what now?  So they chased him, found drugs on him and now he's dead? WTMF?

Did they find drugs on him?

No, from what I read. In the end, there was nothing he should have been arrested for.

[rubytue]

Apr 25, 2015 10:22:07 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Apr 25, 2015 10:18:55 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

Did they find drugs on him?

No, from what I read. In the end, there was nothing he should have been arrested for.

I've been seeing reports that the only charge from that say was for possessing a switchblade. A knife. Kid was killed over a knife in his pocket.

baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/24/disposition-issued-in-freddie-gray-knife-charge/

According to court documents, Officer Garrett Miller sought to charge Freddie Gray with carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray’s pocket after he was stopped. But at a news conference Monday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said “we know having a knife is not necessarily a crime.”

[cookiemdough]

Apr 25, 2015 11:21:38 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Apr 25, 2015 10:22:07 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

No, from what I read. In the end, there was nothing he should have been arrested for.

I've been seeing reports that the only charge from that say was for possessing a switchblade. A knife. Kid was killed over a knife in his pocket.

baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/24/disposition-issued-in-freddie-gray-knife-charge/

According to court documents, Officer Garrett Miller sought to charge Freddie Gray with carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray’s pocket after he was stopped. But at a news conference Monday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said “we know having a knife is not necessarily a crime.”

So he never should have been arrested. We can't stop the police brutality without addressing the fact that the initial interactions shouldn't take place in the first place. He didn't commit a crime by not looking an officer in the eye, he didn't commit a crime by running given he wasn't stopped for something and it is not illegal to carry a switchblade. So how the hell did he end up in the back of that police vehicle. All so avoidable. And when I say this j am referring to the actions of the police not the victim that they terroriZed unnecessarily.

[orangeblossom]

Apr 25, 2015 11:27:32 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

Apr 25, 2015 11:21:38 GMT -5 rubytue said:

I've been seeing reports that the only charge from that say was for possessing a switchblade. A knife. Kid was killed over a knife in his pocket.

baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/24/disposition-issued-in-freddie-gray-knife-charge/

According to court documents, Officer Garrett Miller sought to charge Freddie Gray with carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray’s pocket after he was stopped. But at a news conference Monday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said “we know having a knife is not necessarily a crime.”

So he never should have been arrested. We can't stop the police brutality without addressing the fact that the initial interactions shouldn't take place in the first place. He didn't commit a crime by not looking an officer in the eye, he didn't commit a crime by running given he wasn't stopped for something and it is not illegal to carry a switchblade. So how the hell did he end up in the back of that police vehicle. All so avoidable. And when I say this j am referring to the actions of the police not the victim that they terroriZed unnecessarily.

This. So many unnecessary interactions.

I listened to a story on NPR about Miami Gardens, that is one fourth the population of Miami, yet they had over three times as many arrests, most for unprovoked and unnecessary stops. One officer eventually left the force because of it.

Look at Feeguson when 3/4th of the adult population has an outstanding warrant of some sort, due to their virtual debtors prison.

[orangeblossom]

Apr 25, 2015 11:21:38 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Apr 25, 2015 10:22:07 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

No, from what I read. In the end, there was nothing he should have been arrested for.

I've been seeing reports that the only charge from that say was for possessing a switchblade. A knife. Kid was killed over a knife in his pocket.

baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/24/disposition-issued-in-freddie-gray-knife-charge/

According to court documents, Officer Garrett Miller sought to charge Freddie Gray with carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray’s pocket after he was stopped. But at a news conference Monday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said “we know having a knife is not necessarily a crime.”

Okay, thanks. I hadn't been following as closely as I was in the beginning.

[5thofjuly]

Apr 25, 2015 11:47:01 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Apr 25, 2015 11:27:32 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

So he never should have been arrested. We can't stop the police brutality without addressing the fact that the initial interactions shouldn't take place in the first place. He didn't commit a crime by not looking an officer in the eye, he didn't commit a crime by running given he wasn't stopped for something and it is not illegal to carry a switchblade. So how the hell did he end up in the back of that police vehicle. All so avoidable. And when I say this j am referring to the actions of the police not the victim that they terroriZed unnecessarily.

This. So many unnecessary interactions.

I listened to a story on NPR about Miami Gardens, that is one fourth the population of Miami, yet they had over three times as many arrests, most for unprovoked and unnecessary stops. One officer eventually left the force because of it.

Look at Feeguson when 3/4th of the adult population has an outstanding warrant of some sort, due to their virtual debtors prison.

That was an episode of This American Life. As infuriating as it is, I highly recommend it. 


www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/548/cops-see-it-differently-part-two

This whole thing sickens me and is disheartening because I can't figure out what the solution is besides somehow screening officers better and totally overhauling the culture of certain departments.

[KateAggie]

The mayor appeared to back the police commissioner at her own news conference, and Batts defended his record, saying he was brought on in 2012 to reform the department. Since then, he has fired 50 employees and reduced the number of officer-involved shootings and excessive force complaints.

Opinions on this?  My gut reaction is that you don't push for the resignation of the Chief, since he seems to be having an impact.  But I don't know if that's the right reaction.