Law enforcement agencies of the United States, generally enjoy a high level of trust among citizens. However, this cannot be said of Baltimore (Maryland) where the situation is quite otherwise.
Last year the local police Department was at the center of one of the biggest corruption scandals in US history. Now a special Commission is trying to figure out how deep rooted is this «disease» in law enforcement bodies of Baltimore.
The «werewolves» in uniform
Detectives extorted money from law-abiding citizens, covered the activities of drug traffickers and forged official documents. Photos: BPD
In the spring of 2017 prosecutors filed charges against the 8 employees of one of divisions of the Baltimore police Department (Baltimore Police Department). They were all members of the Operative group for the tracing of firearms.
The investigation revealed that detectives extorted money from law-abiding citizens, covered the activities of the drug dealers, forging official documentation, and was involved in many other offences. Dishonest police officers engaged in criminal activity for three years.
When «werewolves» was revealed, the authorities of Baltimore has tried to avoid publicity. Later, however, it became clear that to avoid a scandal will not succeed. A special unit has been disbanded, and the further the investigation Commission of Maryland for the restoration of confidence in the police (Maryland’s honors Commission to Restore Trust in Policing). Its members are now trying to understand the scale of corruption in law enforcement agencies of Baltimore.
Vertical-corruption
Commission Members hope that working with new police chief Joel Fitzgerald will be able to unravel the tangle of corruption. Photos: BPD
One of the initiators of the Commission, Senator bill Ferguson, believes that the detectives are exposed only «the tip of the iceberg». The fact that still remains unanswered the main question: who has gathered these people together? Almost all of the defendants committed the offenses while working in different departments of BPD, and each of them eventually transferred to a special unit Gun Trace Task Force.
This means that either they were deliberately put together one of the higher ranks, or they managed to bribe the authorities in order to be in the same Department. In any case, we are talking about deep-rooted corruption. I agree with Ferguson and a former employee of the Baltimore police, Peter Moskos. According to him, this scandal has revealed a huge problem that concerns the highest ranks of the BPD.
Fight on all fronts
Until the police trying to regain the trust of the people, the crime situation remains difficult. Photo: flickr/CC/perspective/
To understand the scale of what happened should know that the Prosecutor’s office has already identified more than 2 thousand trumped-up cases. It was also cancelled 225 convictions. And the end is not yet. Members of the Commission hope that, in close cooperation with the new head of the police Department, Joel Fitzgerald, they will be able to unravel the tangle of corruption.
However, while law enforcement agencies are trying to reclaim the trust of the people, the crime situation continues to be dire. For the fourth consecutive year in Baltimore, killing more than 300 people, and a number of other crimes in the thousands.
Anyway, to restore order in the city, you will need a Dean.
