The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the city's top police officers admit they were told not to "engage" rioters even as buildings were burning and police officers were being attacked.

“There’s an amount of discipline necessary to navigate your way through a civil disturbance,” Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis told the paper.

Police Commander Anthony Batts has continuously denied giving his force a “stand down” order, which would essentially tell them to withdraw. But commanders say they were told “do not engage” and to “hold the line” — in other words, stay together as a human barrier, with no officers allowed to step out to confront or arrest a protester.

“Protect assets, protect life,” Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere said. The "reasoning" behind the order was to avoid breaking the police line and making other officers vulnerable to attacks by the rioters.

But some officers are still furious, and skeptical ,about how they were ordered to handle the crisis. Some insist Batts told them to stand down, and have also suggested Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had a hand in that alleged request, fearing an aggressive response would make the police look bad to media, the Sun reported.

The strategy wasn't particularly effective, as 160 officers were injured during the riots. Baltimore business in the area suffered millions of dollars in damage. Some officers have filed worker's compensation claims.

The riots were kicked off by the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who dies in police custody.