BALTIMORE, Md. (AP) - Baltimore's police commissioner says biased law enforcement tactics won't be tolerated, adding that the department has already fired some officers who committed some of the most egregious violations found during a Justice Department investigation.
Kevin Davis said during a news conference Wednesday that biased police tactics won't be tolerated, and that such behavior is "fostering fear in our communities."
Davis says the department is committed to making meaningful changes, but says change will take time, commitment and trust.
The Justice Department's top civil rights official says the Baltimore Police Department has agreed to negotiate with the agency on reforms to policies that have led to discrimination against African-Americans.
Vanita Gupta said during a news conference Wednesday that these negotiations would provide a framework for a formal consent decree between the Justice Department and the police department. That decree, which would lay out reforms that could be enforced by the courts, likely will not be finalized for many months.
Report
The harshly critical Justice Department report says Baltimore police officers routinely discriminate against blacks, use excessive force and are not adequately disciplined for misconduct.
The report issued Wednesday represents a damning indictment of how the city's police officers carry out the most fundamental of policing practices, including traffic stops and searches and responding to First Amendment expression as well as targeting African Americans.
The head of the Justice Department's civil rights division says the Baltimore Police Department's unconstitutional and discriminatory practices have "deeply eroded" the relationship between officers and the community.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the findings of the report are challenging to hear, but she believes the report will help heal the relationship between the community and police.
The federal investigation was launched after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken while he was handcuffed and shackled but left unrestrained in the back of a police van.
Civil Rights Leaders React
The head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund says the Justice Department's report confirms "what many African-American residents of Baltimore have known and lived too long."
In a statement, fund President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill calls the findings of the report being released Wednesday "devastating," saying they "lay bare the harsh reality of discriminatory policing in a major American city."
She urges "residents, community groups, and leading city institutions to marshal their resources and prepare for the long haul to find a way forward."
Meanwhile, Rev. Cortly "C.D." Witherspoon, president of the Baltimore chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference says the Justice Department's report on the city's police officers raises the question of whether there will now be justice for those who have died after encounters with police.
Witherspoon said in a statement Wednesday that for those who have been fighting what he calls the "War Against Police Brutality," the reports contains no startling revelations.
Activist Speaks Out
Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony Williams says if you're black, you're going to get stopped by police in Baltimore.
Williams was among those reacting Wednesday before the Department of Justice released its report on the police department. He recalled being out with his children and seeing police chase down a teenager for smoking marijuana. He says five police jumped on the teenager.
He says police are scared to do their jobs. "They come to the projects, and they get nervous," he said. But he said if people are that nervous, they shouldn't be police officers."
He said he was once stopped and harassed by police just because he was in a bad neighborhood. He said he was wearing black and police told him that he "looked like somebody."
He added that Gray, who suffered a broken neck in a police van, died for no reason.
Congressional Reaction
Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) issued following statement:
"Today's disturbing report from the U.S. Department of Justice provides a devastating account on how the Baltimore Police Department systematically violated the civil rights of the citizens they were sworn to protect. In particular, the report details a pattern of illegal searches, stops, arrests and use of excessive force that disproportionately impacted African-American communities in Baltimore.
"After the death of Freddie Gray in police custody last year, I joined with colleagues to ask DOJ to conduct this investigation into BPD. I am pleased that Baltimore City fully cooperated with this investigation, and share DOJ's optimism that all parties can work together to design and implement a comprehensive set of remedies. I look forward to working closely with BPD and DOJ as we conduct community outreach over the next few months that will provide critical input into an ultimate court-enforceable consent decree and federal court order. I will work closely with our federal delegation and federal agency partners to make sure Baltimore has the resources it needs to carry out wide-ranging reforms. All our citizens deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
"We owe nothing less to the family of Freddie Gray than to have his tragic death provide the catalyst for an overhaul of BPD that rebuilds the trust between the police and the communities they serve. We owe the citizens of Baltimore who were denied justice and equal treatment under the law the opportunity to make BPD a model police force for the nation. We must ensure that BPD officers have the best possible training, equipment, and resources to carry out their sworn duties in a lawful manner that builds trust with communities they serve, and that officers are quickly held accountable for misconduct."
