In a news conference Wednesday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called on the Department of Justice for a Ferguson-style civil rights investigation of her police department to see if it could find practices it deems discriminatory or unjust.
Saying she's "willing to do what it takes to reform my department," the Democrat Mayor announced Wednesday that she was asking the DOJ to intercede to help remedy the "fractured" situation:
RAWLINGS-BLAKE: We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community. And recent events continue to demonstrate the need to press forward with these reforms. We have to get it right. Failure is not an option.
In order to achieve the kind of lasting and significant reform that we want to see, that I want to see, that the citizens want to see in Baltimore, I am requesting the Department of Justice conduct a federal pattern or practice investigation into the Baltimore City Police Department.
Despite having touted her own law enforcement reforms in the past, Rawlings-Blake deemed it necessary for the newly-appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch to bring her team to thoroughly probe the department for civil rights violations, including discriminatory practices, like unlawful stops and searches, use of excessive force, and false arrests.
As TruthRevolt reported, Lynch's first visit as Attorney General was to Baltimore Tuesday, where she made clear that the Department of Justice would be playing an active role in providing "support" to the police department as it attempted to respond to its "fractured" relationship with the community.
After the mayor's announcement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said Lynch "is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore."
The Baltimore Sun notes that the mayor's request follows a similar call from ten Baltimore City Council members, all of whom are Democrats, who reached out the Justice Department Tuesday for a full-scale investigation into their police department. In the written request, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young has openly accused the department of the "systemic mistreatment" of African Americans:
The systemic mistreatment of members of the African-American community by some officers within the Baltimore Police Department helped contribute to a strained relationship between the police and the citizens who depend on them for protection and service. The City of Baltimore is in desperate need of a binding federal review of the police department in order to repair this fractured relationship.
