A report from the Department of Justice asserts that Baltimore police routinely subject African Americans to unconstitutional stops and excessive force.

The DOJ released the 163-page report on its investigation of the Baltimore police that followed from the death of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. Charges were brought against all officers involved in Gray's death, although four of the police officers were acquitted by a judge and the city dropped the remaining charges. 

Nevertheless, the report claimed a pattern of civil rights abuse by the department.

"This pattern or practice is driven by systemic deficiencies in BPD's policies, training, supervision and accountability structures that fail to equip officers with the tools they need to police effectively and within the bounds of the federal law," the report said.

The police department "has already begun laying the foundation for reform by self-initiating changes to its policies, training, data management, and accountability systems," it added.

The report said that officers routinely made unconstitutional stops, arrests, and searches. "BPD’s targeted policing of certain Baltimore neighborhoods with minimal oversight or accountability disproportionately harms African-American residents."

The investigation also discovered that officers used excessive force with mentally disabled individuals and juveniles who do not respond as easily to commands.

The BPD "uses overly aggressive tactics that unnecessarily escalate encounters, increase tensions, and lead to unnecessary force, and fails to de-escalate encounters when it would be reasonable to do so," the report said.  The report also charged that the police violated the First Amendment in its treatment of individuals engaged in political speech.