Justice Department launches investigation of Baltimore police

Justice Department launches investigation of Baltimore police

by AP8 May 2015

http://www.breitbart.com/news/us-launches-its-own-investigation-of-baltimore-police/

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department waded anew Friday into fraught, big city police-community relations, with new Attorney General Loretta Lynch declaring the subject “one of the most challenging issues of our time.” She announced a wide-ranging investigation into Baltimore’s police.

The federal civil rights investigation, which city officials sought following the death last month of a man in police custody, will search for discriminatory policing practices and examine allegations that Baltimore officers too often use excessive force and make unconstitutional searches and arrests.

The investigation is to build upon the government’s voluntary and collaborative review of the Baltimore police that began last year. Since then, the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray and the days of rioting that followed exposed a “serious erosion of public trust,” Lynch said, and showed that community concerns about the police were more pervasive than initially understood and that a broader investigation was warranted.

“It was clear to a number of people looking at this situation that the community’s rather frayed trust — to use an understatement — was even worse and has, in effect, been severed in terms of the relationship with the police department,” Lynch said.

The announcement indicated that Lynch, who was sworn in last week as the successor to Eric Holder, is likely to keep the Justice Department engaged in a national dialogue about race relations and law enforcement. That issue consumed the final year of Holder’s tenure and flared most vividly last summer following the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer.

The federal department has undertaken dozens of other city police investigations, including more than 20 during Holder’s tenure. If they find systemic civil rights violations, the investigations typically result in court-enforceable agreements between the federal government and the local community that serve as blueprints for change and are overseen by an independent monitor. The Justice Department has the option of suing a police department that is unwilling to make changes.

In some cases, such as in Ferguson — where Justice found sweeping patterns of racial discrimination — the federal government has initiated the process on its own; in others, including in Cleveland and Albuquerque, New Mexico, city officials made the request.

A separate Justice Department review of Baltimore police policies, by the Community Oriented Police Services office, will continue but its findings will be folded into the new civil rights investigation announced on Friday, Lynch said.

Lynch visited Baltimore earlier this week to meet with city and community leaders as well as Gray’s family.

“We’re talking about generations, not only of mistrust, but generations of communities that feel very separated from government overall,” she said on Friday. “So you’re talking about situations where there’s a flashpoint occurrence that coalesces years of frustration and anger. That’s what I think you saw in Baltimore.”

The city endured days of unrest after Gray died April 19 following a week in a coma after his arrest. Protesters threw bottles and bricks at police the night of his funeral on April 27, injuring nearly 100 officers. More than 200 people were arrested as cars and businesses burned. Last week, Baltimore’s top prosecutor charged six police officers in connection with the death, and the Justice Department is investigating the encounter for potential civil rights violations.

Friday’s announcement followed a request from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who initially appeared determined to fix the city’s problems on her own but then on Wednesday requested a Justice Department investigation.

“Our city is making progress in repairing the fractured relationship between police and community, but bolder reforms are needed and we will not shy away from taking on these challenges,” she said in a statement.

Baltimore police Capt. J. Eric Kowalczyk, a department spokesman, said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts stands by a statement in which he said he welcomed the mayor’s request “with open arms.”

“We have never shied away from scrutiny or assistance,” Batts said on Thursday. “Our work is ongoing and anyone who wishes to be a part of helping the department better connect with the community will always be welcome.”

He has said the department has accomplished reforms and made progress during his 2 1/2 years in office. By the end of 2014, he said, complaints about discourtesy had fallen 54 percent, and excessive force complaints were down more than 40 percent.

Justice Department

Loretta Lynch is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, and was Sharon Malone’s Harvard classmate.

Note: Sharon Malone was Loretta Lynch’s Harvard classmate, and is married to Eric H. Holder Jr.

Eric H. Holder Jr. is married to Sharon Malone, was the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, a board member American Constitution Society, and an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.  

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Debo P. Adegbile is a director at the American Constitution Society, a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, was the acting president & director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an assistant attorney general nominee for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Fraternal Order of Police opposed his nomination as assistant attorney general.

Kenneth Canterbury is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Martin O'Malley was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, a fundraiser for the 2008 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, the Baltimore (MD) mayor, and is the Maryland state government governor.

William J. Bratton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the commissioner for the New York City Police Department, was the police commissioner for Boston (MA), a superintendent for the Boston Metropolitan Police, and the chief for the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department.

Lee H. Hamilton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and David F. Hamilton’s nephew.

Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F. Kerry’s brother, and was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.                    

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and the attorney in ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

David B. Barlow was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and is the U.S. attorney for the District of Utah for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Sidley Austin LLP was the legal adviser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was the plaintiff in ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

David F. Hamilton was a canvasser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), and is Lee H. Hamilton’s nephew.

Lee H. Hamilton is David F. Hamilton’s uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Martin O'Malley was a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, a fundraiser for the 2008 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, the Baltimore (MD) mayor, and is the Maryland state government governor.

William J. Bratton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the commissioner for the New York City Police Department, was the police commissioner for Boston (MA), a superintendent for the Boston Metropolitan Police, and the chief for the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department.

Kenneth Canterbury is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Debo P. Adegbile was opposed for his nomination as assistant attorney general by the Fraternal Order of Police, the acting president & director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an assistant attorney general nominee for the U.S. Department of Justice, is a director at the American Constitution Society, and a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Loretta Lynch is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, and was Sharon Malone’s Harvard classmate.