Loretta Lynch Launches Civil Rights Investigation Into Baltimore Police Department

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced today during a press conference that the Justice Department is launching a full-scale civil rights investigation of the Baltimore police department. The investigation will examine whether the Baltimore police departments show a pattern of discrimination or use of excessive force.

“The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has conducted dozens of these pattern or practice investigations, and we have seen from our work in jurisdictions across the country that communities that have gone through this process are experiencing improved policing practices and increased trust between the police and the community,” Lynch said.

Lynch described a “fractured trust” between police and communities as “an understatement.”

“This investigation will begin immediately, and will focus on allegations that Baltimore Police Department officers use excessive force, including deadly force, conduct unlawful searches, seizures and arrests, and engage in discriminatory policing,” said Lynch.

The Justice Department had conducted its own criminal investigation into the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who had suffered a spinal cord injury while in police custody during what was later determined to be an illegal arrest by Baltimore police. Six police officers were arrested as a result of the Justice Department’s investigation.

Some of the tensions in Baltimore have eased, with the officers facing charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to failing to properly secure Gray in the van during transport.

The attorney for one of the arrested officers said, “These officers will be vindicated because they have done nothing wrong.”

Community, faith and youth leaders, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, urged Lynch to launch a civil rights investigation similar to the one conducted under former Attorney General Eric Holder in Ferguson, Missouri, which determined there had been a pattern of discriminatory policing.

“As detailed in our searing report […] this investigation found a community that was deeply polarized, a community where deep distrust and hostility often characterized interactions between police and area residents,” Holder said.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch had been sworn into office just hours before Baltimore exploded into riots following Gray’s funeral. With President Obama’s focused commitment to combat the poverty, violence and marginalization of inner-cities, Lynch is having to balance the President’s agenda with the demands of community leaders wanting immediate action and police departments grappling for respect within the communities it serves.

“Loretta Lynch is in a very interesting position. She seems very intent in coming in and trying to get a fresh start,” said former Justice Department official William Yeomans. “Part of that is to avoid being typed as Eric Holder was, to some extent, as pro-civil rights as opposed to law enforcement. I think that’s a good thing, that’s healthy, as long as civil rights is in the end not neglected.”

[Image: Ramin Talaie / Stringer]