By Mark Puente
As calls persist for greater
police accountability in communities across the nation, Mayor Stephanie
Rawlings-Blake told a White House panel Tuesday that the city needs money for
increased training and body cameras, and to add supervisors to the office that
investigates misconduct..
"This creates a higher
level of accountability in the investigations and ensures that officers are
being held accountable for their actions," the mayor told President Barack
Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. "Having grant funding to pay
for those positions would expedite the process."
Rawlings-Blake told the
12-member panel that she is committed to improving the relationship between
police and Baltimore's residents. While crime has dropped in recent years, the
problem of police misconduct continues to overshadow such improvements, she
said.
Residents were "concerned about the tactics
used by police officers in order to achieve the crime reductions we were
experiencing," she added.
Her comments followed testimony
from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who
also told the panel about problems plaguing their police forces.
Obama created the task force in
December to explore ways to build public trust and promote reductions in crime.
He also proposed using millions in federal funding to help pay for body cameras
for 50,000 police officers across the country.
The president's announcement
followed nationwide protests over the police-involved deaths of Michael Brown
in Missouri, Eric Garner in New York City and Tamir Rice in Cleveland. Those
incidents have stoked anger in many communities about the treatment of
minorities by police.
More protests are planned in
Baltimore and in Annapolis on Thursday, a day after the 2015 General Assembly
session opens.
The task force, which met
Tuesday at the Newseum, is headed by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles
Ramsey and Laurie Robinson, a former assistant attorney general who is a
co-chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Research Advisory
Committee. The group is scheduled to complete a report within 90 days.
Nutter and Johnson, president
of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, told the panel that many U.S. cities face
conflicts between police and residents.
"The issues that we're
discussing today are primarily local issues," Johnson said. "We
cannot pretend there is a one-size–fits-all-model" for solutions.
"Nothing can be achieved
without mutual respect and the shared vision of destiny," Nutter said.
Nutter and Johnson — like
Rawlings-Blake — are working to reform their police departments.
Johnson has ordered his police
chief to provide a report with recommendations for overhauling the department.
Johnson wants the chief to explore the use of body cameras, ways to diversify
the force, improvements in training and opportunities to better relations with
the community.
The police departments in
Baltimore and Philadelphia also are undergoing comprehensive reviews by the
U.S. Department of Justice.
A recent multi-part Baltimore
Sun investigation revealed that the city's police officers have battered dozens
of residents — resulting in broken bones, head trauma, organ failure, and even
death — during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while
handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement. The city has paid $5.7 million
in court judgments and settlements in 102 civil suits alleging police brutality
and other misconduct since 2011. And in almost every case, prosecutors or
judges dismissed the charges against the people who were arrested — if charges
were filed at all.
The investigation also found
that some Baltimore officers were involved in multiple lawsuits alleging
brutality, and city officials were unaware of the scope of the problem because
they lacked comprehensive tracking systems for police misconduct. Five days
after the first part of The Sun investigation was published, Police
Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced that he had asked the Justice
Department to help reform the agency. The collaborative review is in its early
stages.
Federal officials intervened a
year ago in Philadelphia to help curb outrage over years of officer-involved
shootings.
Rawlings-Blake told the panel
that "building trust and legitimacy are at the forefront of what we have
been working to improve in Baltimore."
She pointed out that complaints
and lawsuits against Baltimore officers have decreased, and that more residents
are providing crime tips to police. "We have demonstrated that Baltimore
can learn from its past."
Rawlings-Blake also told the
panel she is committed to impartiality, legitimacy and procedural justice when
it comes to police interactions with residents. The department is adding ethics
and situational training to give officers hands-on experience when confronting
problems on the streets.
"The goal is building a
belief in every officer that a safe neighborhood can't be achieved without the
trust and confidence that comes from community engagement," said
Rawlings-Blake, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
While the city is working to
create a program to equip officers with body cameras, Rawlings-Blake said, such
cameras are a necessity to hold officers accountable and to defend them against
false accusations. Federal funding could help Baltimore become one of the first
major cities with a comprehensive program for its officers, she said.
The Justice Department's review
will bring consultants to Baltimore this month to start examining the police
force, and the mayor said an increased federal partnership is crucial to
helping train officers on issues like diversity.
"They need to learn more
than logistics of policing, but also the broader significance of their role in
our society," she said.
After the three mayors had
spoken, Rawlings-Blake said she is "optimistic" that Congress and
Obama will act on the task force's findings. She also urged more cities to ask
the Justice Department for help to improve training for police forces.
"This work is not going to
happen on its own," she said.
