Baltimore Black Man Stopped 30 Times Never Even Got a Ticket

Feds issue damning report about police discrimination in city
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2016 5:33 AM CDT
Baltimore Cops Stopped Black Man 30 Times in 4 Years for Zero Charges
In this April 29, 2015, file photo, police stand in formation as a curfew approaches in Baltimore.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

The Justice Department is out Wednesday with a scathing report on the Baltimore Police Department that accuses the department of routine discrimination against black residents. The report stems from Freddie Gray's death and is seen as the first step toward a formal overhaul of police practices. A sampling of coverage:

  • "In one case, for example, an African-American man in his mid-fifties was stopped 30 times in less than 4 years by police, yet none of the stops ever resulted in a citation or criminal charge." From NPR.

  • "Black residents account for roughly 84 percent of stops, though they represent just 63 percent of the city's population. Likewise, African-Americans make up 95 percent of the 410 people stopped at least 10 times by officers from 2010 to 2015." The AP.
  • "In one telling anecdote from the report, a shift commander provided officers with boilerplate language on how to write up trespassing arrest reports of people found near housing projects. The template contained an automatic description of the arrestee: A BLACK MALE. 'The supervisor’s template thus presumes that individuals arrested for trespassing will be African-American,' the report stated." The New York Times.
  • Though black residents were more likely to be stopped on foot and in cars, "officers found contraband twice as often when searching white residents during vehicle stops and 50 percent more often during pedestrian stops, the report notes." The Baltimore Sun.
  • "The investigators found that 'supervisors have issued explicitly discriminatory orders, such as directing a shift to arrest 'all the black hoodies' in a neighborhood.'" Also in the Sun.
  • "Civil rights investigators declare that a 'legacy of zero tolerance enforcement' that started in 1999 and officially ended a decade ago 'continues to drive' the policing strategy of the city." The Washington Post.
  • Read the 163-page report here. See excerpts via the Washington Post here.
(More Baltimore stories.)

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