Good officers, bad strategies

When Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the Justice Department (DOJ) to conduct a civil rights patterns or practice investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, she knew some long-standing fundamental deficiencies existed within the nation’s eighth largest department that were detrimental to a healthy policecommunity relationship. When I agreed to serve as police commissioner, I did so knowing my tenure would forever be judged by my ability to convert rhetoric to action and move the needle on systemic reform.

DOJ’s report outlines numerous examples of egregious misconduct, describing years of zero-tolerance policing that relied on, encouraged and rewarded discretionary arrests that disproportionately impacted poor black residents in some of the city’s most crimeridden neighborhoods. While arrests have fallen drastically over the years, the report makes clear that black citizens are still disproportionately targeted.

Some still cling to mass arrests as a policing strategy, rationalizing arrest mandates that handed a generation of young black men criminal records that served as a virtual death sentence for their futures. It’s unproductive to continue discussing zero-tolerance policing when it has been so clearly proven to be the wrong approach. I believe that we can reduce crime while ensuring that all Baltimore citizens are treated equally under the law.

I’ve been criticized for saying most police officers come to work every day and consistently do the right thing while serving our community. I say it because it’s true. Examples of discriminatory practices and instances of misconduct in the DOJ report are inexcusable. It’s quite another thing, however, for good cops to be the victims of bad enforcement strategies. One requires removal from the profession; the other demands retraining and reform. Changes to the disciplinary process, hiring, training and policies are well underway.

Police officers in Baltimore have a great deal of pride. I look forward to leading the men and women who proudly wear our uniform into a new era of policing, one that respects the sanctity and dignity of human life in every neighborhood in our city.