BALTIMORE — The U.S. Department of Justice's scathing condemnation of the Baltimore Police Department is likely to lead to more violent crime in the Maryland city, according to one expert on criminal law.
On Wednesday, the DOJ released a report accusing the city's law enforcement officers of disproportionately stopping, searching and arresting African-Americans. The report comes 15-months after the federal government launched an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department following the 2015 death of 25-year old Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. Six police officers were either acquitted or had criminal charges against them dropped in the case of Gray's death.
WASHINGTON (AP) — To supporters, zero-tolerance policing has long represented a logical crime-fighting approach: Crack down on minor infractions before they mushroom into more serious and disruptive violence.
But a scathing federal government report on the Baltimore Police Department suggests the costs of that strategy outweigh any reduction in crime. The Justice Department report released Wednesday blames zero-tolerance policing for a legacy of discriminatory law enforcement in which black residents are disproportionately stopped and searched without cause.
