Judge: Finding scandal’s roots ‘daunting’
last year when he served on the legal team for Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault during his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison and City Solicitor Andre Davis announced Bromwich’s selection Wednesday after months of clamoring by Bredar for the department to conduct “an autopsy” of the Gun Trace Task Force scandal. The team of officers led by Wayne Jenkins stole from residents, dealt drugs and fraudulently collected overtime, all unnoticed until the first federal indictments were announced in early 2017. Eight officers have been convicted and sent to federal prison for sentences of up to 25 years.
The indictments came just weeks before the city and U.S. Justice Department entered into the consent decree, which requires a complete overhaul of the department policies, including how it conducts internal misconduct investigations.
Since the consent decree was reached two and a half years ago, the department has had many commissioners. But Bredar said Thursday he’s confident that the city now has good leadership in place.
“Fundamental change is underway, the course has been set, progress will come,” the judge said.
Since Harrison took the helm in February, he has restructured command and hired three new deputy commissioners from outside the department, as well as civilian professionals.
The department also has begun revising many polices — and training officers on those policies. It is in the process of moving its training academy to a more modern facility at the University of Baltimore campus. Though some city leaders had expressed interest in moving the academy onto the campus of Coppin State University, Davis said “the Baltimore police department needed to move without delay,” which was not feasible at the Coppin location.
“I said this has to be a tip top priority” said Davis, adding that the academy is the “front door” to the department in serious need of adding more officers and improving its recruiting.
Attrition on the force is outpacing hiring, and hundreds of patrol positions remain unfilled. A recent marketing campaign has boosted the number of applicants, but it has yet to result in new hires, the department says.
Bredar asked Thursday that the department and others involved in the reform efforts seek input from leaders of the police union. The union has been extremely critical of Harrison’s reform efforts, and recently issued its own crime plan in response to
Harrison’s major initiative released over the summer. The union’s report complained that many of Harrison’s goals were not feasible at current staffing levels, such as reducing response time.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 President Sgt. Mike Mancuso said Thursday that he’s met twice with Bredar and said the department must offer better pay, benefits and working conditions to compete with surrounding agencies. It is important at a time when departments across the country face officer shortages, he said.
“BPD salaries drop off after 10 years compared with the surrounding top police departments in the state,” Mancuso said. “In some instances $20,000 to $30,000 less in the same rank.”
“Recruitment and retention are fairly easy,” he added. “It’s just having the will to make the hard decisions.”
Nola Joyce, a member of the monitoring team also said “certainly pay and benefits” will help attract and retain officers, but also a belief that bosses really care. That includes creating better work conditions and emphasizing officer wellness and safety.
Bredar said department leaders face a difficult challenge of balancing support for the community and support for its officers, whose jobs are increasingly more challenging.