Police Dept. and auditors in recruiting dispute

Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young said it appeared that the city Police Department was “stonewalling” city auditors looking into the agency’s performance at attracting recruits. Auditor Audrey Askew told members of a city commission that oversees her work that the Baltimore Police Department hadn’t supplied information to back up claimed recruitment performance, that officials were at times not returning her calls and that the department had not signed a formal engagement letter with the auditors. Commission member Comptroller Joan Pratt, whose office includes the auditors, said she spoke directly with the interim police commissioner to resolve some of the communication issues. Young, who is a member of the commission, said Monday that the way the Police Department was participating in the routine audit was “unacceptable.” “It seems like the agency is stonewalling the auditor,” Young said. The Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that it was “cooperating fully” with the auditors, and had turned over data Friday. The statement says auditors asked for documentation Monday to support that data and the department was committed to turning it over by the end of the day on Tuesday. “As far as we are aware, we have given the auditors everything they have asked for and there have been no unfulfilled requests for information,” the statement says. Askew told the commission Monday that the Police Department blamed a staff transition for the issues and said it was trying to cooperate with her review.