MD - Freddie Gray dies in police custody #3 *INDICTMENT*

[EllieBee]

Grand Jury indicts six Baltimore Police Officers in the death of Freddie Gray:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/21/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death-officers-indicted/index.html

Came to post this earlier but the thread was still closed.

So. Charged. Indicted.

<modsnip>

 

[SugarQueen]

I don't think anyone is surprised that they were indicted. I would have been shocked if they weren't. They have to base everything on the information they are given from a prosecutor. Let's remember an indictment does not mean guilt!
I just want the truth to come out. All the overcharging, throwing things against the wall nonsense doesn't really work for me.

 

[dandy]

snip

But using seatbelts for prisoners was not only a recently adopted policy by the BPD, it had barely existed.

The procedure to buckle in a prisoner is part of policy 1114; on page two it reads “the detainee is secured with the provided seat belt or restraining device” *and that “all passengers, regardless of age and seat location, shall be restrained...”

While previous reports say this new policy was published April 3, 2015, ABC2 has learned it wasn't approved and emailed out to officers until almost a week later.

In Focus has obtained the department wide e-mail confirming as much with the time stamp of 6:01 p.m. on April 9, just two full days before Freddie Gray would be arrested in the western district.
http://www.abc2news.com/news/in-foc...w-seat-belt-order-issued-for-baltimore-police

Much more reading at link.

any chance you can take a peek inside a van????

i'm really having difficulty with this. iirc mm said 5 times that the officers did not properly restrain him. what i'm gleaning from this article is that it is the exception for the vans to have straps. the author quotes everybody else except baltimore city - wouldn't take much to find out about their vans:waitasec:

i'm assuming the mayor & city council make the rules/laws - but how can the officers comply and mm include it in her charges if the van didn't have seatbelts? too much of this just doesn't make sense.

interesting quote from baltimore county police spokesperson: "We are currently reviewing complex and ambiguous federal and state law relevant to the wearing of seat belts," Armacost said. She said the department does not support adding seat belts to the vans, saying it could be unsafe for officers to buckle an uncooperative prisoner in such a confined space.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...tbelts-police-vans-20150508-story.html#page=2

 

[LietKynes]

Mainly marking my spot.
Sad if these officers are being indicted just to keep the city calm. I, too, want to know the truth, but fear it may be buried under an 'agenda'.
MOO

 

[SCHMAE]

Six indictments.... whoa !
I could not find this thread anywhere yesterday.

 

[Footwarrior]

Considering the history in Baltimore, how could any police officer not understand the danger to an unbelted prisoner?

 

[Curious Guy]

Considering the history in Baltimore, how could any police officer not understand the danger to an unbelted prisoner?

Considering the history in Baltimore, why anyone would want to be a LEO there is beyond my understanding.

 

[shadowraiths]

Updated charges. What was added, what was removed.

Cliff notes version: reckless endangerment was added to all 6. second count of second-degree assault and false imprisonment was removed. <= the removal of the false imprisonment, imho, takes the knife off the table, so to speak.

Baltimore Sun

 

[CARIIS]

TMurders in one part of town are up 200 percent, shootings 800 percent, but police are locking up fewer people

His is really sad and scary. There are definations of professinials.It is clear that some cops are acting out

e arrested. In the last week of available data, 339 people were arrested.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...s-murder-booms-in-baltimore-s-worst-area.html


espite more crime, there are far fewer arrests in the district. In fact, at least three days in May saw no arrests.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-church-encourages-young-women-to-submit.html

 

[sonjay]

TMurders in one part of town are up 200 percent, shootings 800 percent, but police are locking up fewer people

His is really sad and scary. There are definations of professinials.It is clear that some cops are acting out

e arrested. In the last week of available data, 339 people were arrested.

From the link:

Batts blamed crowds in the Western District for the lack of effective policing.

“It makes it very difficult to follow up on violence that takes place there,” Batts said on Thursday. “They’re getting to those locations and getting surrounded. You have many citizens with hand-held cameras that they’re sticking in the faces of officers, an inch off the officer’s face.”

And from this link:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...md-ci-batts-speaks-20150520-story.html#page=1

"Officers tell me and their supervisors, any time they pull up to respond to a call, they have 30 to 50 people surrounding them," Batts said. "We have to send in multiple units just to do basic police work, which says we have to work on community engagement."

I don't think it's at all clear that some cops are acting out. I think there's an argument to be made that the community is acting out. Police pull up somewhere on a call, and they're immediately surrounded by 30 to 50 angry people, many of them sticking cameras right up in the officers' faces.

And this:

Top-ranking deputy commissioners are responding to West Baltimore shootings and crime scenes, both to underscore the importance of making arrests and to monitor interactions between officers and residents.

So the cops get there, and are surrounded by a hostile crowd, and every move they make is being scrutinized in person by the top brass. This paints a picture of chaotic situations that are likely to erupt into full-blown riots any second, and with the cops like to be arrested and charged with false arrest if they actually do anything beyond show up and take a report.

And this:

Batts said police do not want to cause a "bigger issue" by sending in backup, but they want to "make sure the officers are safe and citizens are safe."

So, police feel that they need backup in these chaotic situations, but they're afraid to call for backup because it would cause a "bigger issue."

I'm kind of surprised that any arrests at all are being made in the Western District.

 

[BirdycatNY]

From the link:

..."Officers tell me and their supervisors, any time they pull up to respond to a call, they have 30 to 50 people surrounding them," Batts said. "We have to send in multiple units just to do basic police work, which says we have to work on community engagement."

I don't think it's at all clear that some cops are acting out. I think there's an argument to be made that the community is acting out. Police pull up somewhere on a call, and they're immediately surrounded by 30 to 50 angry people, many of them sticking cameras right up in the officers' faces.

And this:

Top-ranking deputy commissioners are responding to West Baltimore shootings and crime scenes, both to underscore the importance of making arrests and to monitor interactions between officers and residents.

So the cops get there, and are surrounded by a hostile crowd, and every move they make is being scrutinized in person by the top brass. This paints a picture of chaotic situations that are likely to erupt into full-blown riots any second, and with the cops like to be arrested and charged with false arrest if they actually do anything beyond show up and take a report.

And this:

Batts said police do not want to cause a "bigger issue" by sending in backup, but they want to "make sure the officers are safe and citizens are safe."

So, police feel that they need backup in these chaotic situations, but they're afraid to call for backup because it would cause a "bigger issue."

I'm kind of surprised that any arrests at all are being made in the Western District.

And this is an example of why inmates should NOT be running the asylum. LE needs to do their job, why would a mob of law-abiding citizens surround them. I think individual(s) that are doing such things have NO respect for the rule of law or authorities and it's tragic, really. Jmo/

 

[BirdycatNY]

The presser-GJ, the other day did not provide any new factual or more evidence, so I wonder if it varies much from SA's initial charges/version of events. Does anyone know more about the charges/facts of the LEO on bikes? What role are the SA suggesting Officer Nero and other LEO on bike played in this, does anyone know if there is more information on the individual(s) and Mr. Gray's encounter? Jmo and tia.

 

[tangelo]

Considering the history in Baltimore, why anyone would want to be a LEO there is beyond my understanding.

yeah, it's a cesspool, baltimore doesnt deserve to be a city, rioting since 68, good riddance.

 

[BirdycatNY]

This is slightly O/T, but on a more positive note, story about another Baltimore protest against violence in the city (mods feel free to remove if not proper):

Amid alarming spike in shootings and homicides, a walk for peace
By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun/ May 23, 2015
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...d-ci-bmore-peaceful-march-20150523-story.html

..."Today, we are making a unified stand together — one city, one people — against all violence in this city," activist Kinji Scott called from the back of a red pickup truck that led marchers through the city. "All forms of violence in our community are wrong," he said. The backdrop of that message was a spate of violence in which 11 people had been shot — five fatally — since late Friday...

 

[mysteriew]

http://data.baltimoresun.com/bing-maps/homicides/?

 

[katydid23]

This is slightly O/T, but on a more positive note, story about another Baltimore protest against violence in the city (mods feel free to remove if not proper):

Amid alarming spike in shootings and homicides, a walk for peace
By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun/ May 23, 2015
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...d-ci-bmore-peaceful-march-20150523-story.html

About 30 people took part in Saturday's march, escorted by police vehicles as they walked through the city. Some participants said the turnout was disappointing, but it didn't take away from their message. They urged residents to come together to work against violence.

Scott said the focus of many recent protests since the death of Gray, the 25-year-old who died after suffering a spinal cord injury in police custody, has been on police brutality.

He also wanted to see residents pay attention to gun violence within neighborhoods.

March participant Tammie Garrett, an administrator and youth leader at Ames Memorial United Methodist Church, said she is troubled by the number of homicides.

"Truthfully, we're killing more of each other than the police are," said Garrett, who used to live in Sandtown and now lives in East Baltimore. "If we want peace, if we want justice, we have to start with ourselves. We have to become unified."



GREAT to see that locals are protesting the local violence. Sad to see only 30 took part though. More people died violently in May[32 so far] than took part in this march against violence. :sigh:

 

[dandy]

interesting background on the mayor's thought process: bbm

Walker's report follows Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's failed efforts this year to change the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights.

Rawlings-Blake asked the General Assembly for legislation that would make it easier to discipline officers. She pressed for a bill that would have created a new felony "misconduct in office" charge for officers, and for another that would have made it easier to discipline officers without them having the right to appeal.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...-walker-bpd-report-20150524-story.html#page=1

 

[katydid23]

I am about to blow my stack so I will try hard to not get in trouble here now. But I just saw a report on MSNBC where they discussed the TWENTY NINE shootings in Baltimore this weekend. And the protesters are now BLAMING THE COPS for the violence.

Yes, they are blaming the cops for not being 'proactive.' :no:

I am sorry, but it riles me because that is exactly what they have been protesting against. The locals have complained about being questioned, harassed, profiled, and frisked by cops coming into their neighborhood. They don't want cops to 'act that way' and treat them with disrespect. That all sounds reasonable. But how do cops go into a WAR ZONE, where they are prime targets, and NOT do any of those things?

What is being 'proactive' other than stopping and frisking and questioning suspicious people?

So once again, the cops are in a lose/lose situation. Of course they are backing off in the neighborhoods. They would be stupid not to. They have no support from their higher ups and no support from the community. Yet they are now being blamed for the vicious actions of local gang members. Seems pretty unfair, imo.

 

[cuffem]

I am about to blow my stack so I will try hard to not get in trouble here now. But I just saw a report on MSNBC where they discussed the TWENTY NINE shootings in Baltimore this weekend. And the protesters are now BLAMING THE COPS for the violence.

Yes, they are blaming the cops for not being 'proactive.' :no:

I am sorry, but it riles me because that is exactly what they have been protesting against. The locals have complained about being questioned, harassed, profiled, and frisked by cops coming into their neighborhood. They don't want cops to 'act that way' and treat them with disrespect. That all sounds reasonable. But how do cops go into a WAR ZONE, where they are prime targets, and NOT do any of those things?

What is being 'proactive' other than stopping and frisking and questioning suspicious people?

So once again, the cops are in a lose/lose situation. Of course they are backing off in the neighborhoods. They would be stupid not to. They have no support from their higher ups and no support from the community. Yet they are now being blamed for the vicious actions of local gang members. Seems pretty unfair, imo.

Wait til you see the article from CNN,I think Don Lemmon.I will try to find it.

 

[Nana]

Gives a whole new meaning to another bites the dust doesn't it