Still no accountability in excessive police force case

Most Americans agree that there needs to be police reforms related to policing practices. Yet there still is a resistance to hold officers accountable for their actions past and present. Even in the most egregious cases, officer misconduct is overlooked, swept aside and excused. Why would officers adhere to any reforms if there were no consequences were they not to do so?

In July 2020, a video surfaced of Baltimore Police Officer Jorge Omar Bernardez-Ruiz in 2016 kneeling on the back of a prone suspect and then pointing a gun at the head of said suspect after a small crowd started protesting the apparent arrest. Bernardez-Ruiz clearly tells the crowd to back up while he’s pointing the gun (“State’s attorney’s office will review viral video of Baltimore Police officer pulling his weapon during an arrest,” July 30, 2020). Two years later, the public has yet to hear a disposition from either the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office or the Baltimore Police Department or any outcry from the media.

The initial response from both the State’s Attorney’s Office and the police department was that they would review the case against Bernardez-Ruiz. It has been more than two years since then, and we have yet to hear anything either way about the case. Bernardez-Ruiz has been accused of excessive force in the past, yet he seemingly hasn’t been constrained by anyone in power, and he earns well into the six figures, according to public salary records.

Where are the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, the Baltimore Police Department, and the media in all this? Is it so easy to let something like this just slip away? Are we too willing to put blinders on when it may not be politically expedient? When did facts stop becoming facts? How did anyone looking at that video not see a crime and put it in the context of the history of poor conduct alleged against this officer? The residents of Baltimore, the victim and his family deserve an answer. Where is it?