A new report reveals a police department that was in disarray after protests and clashes between citizens and police in Baltimore turned violent in the wake of the police killing of Freddie Gray. The report, released Monday by the Police Executive Research Forum, was critical of several areas in the police response to protesters, but failed to address root causes of police responsibility and also recommended increased surveillance on potential protesters. According to the Baltimore Sun:
The report — titled "Lessons Learned from the 2015 Civil Unrest in Baltimore" — provides new critiques of key top-level decisions and details that bolster previous criticism. It also highlights continuing gaps in knowledge about how the worst of the rioting, looting and arson erupted, noting that reviewers were "unable to determine who issued the order to cancel bus service" at Mondawmin Mall on April 27 — a decision that left many students stranded in the area that day.
The report detailed a long list of "major findings," reflected in 56 recommendations for the Police Department to implement. It said planning was inadequate, arrest policies were unclear, equipment was severely lacking, officer training was inadequate, mutual aid agreements with other localities were insufficient or unclear, and orders to officers were not clearly defined. Command positions were also changed at times without notice, causing confusion, the report said.
The PERF report notes mass confusion in the ranks of police, attributing to it over a hundred likely unlawful arrests of protesters who were never read their rights or charged. And while the PERF report does mention a rumored and dubiously sourced “Purge” allegedly planned by students at Mondawmin Mall, it does not detail how the police response—one in which they canceled schools and met walking students with riot gear and helicopters—precipitated the unrest.
In the wake of controversy about the use of sophisticated local and federal surveillance against protesters and alleged “outside agitators”—including several nonviolent Black Lives Matter activists invited by residents—the report recommends stepping up efforts even further, and marshaling more of the department’s resources and leverage with the federal government to track activists with methods currently used for terrorists. This is a concerning trend that will certainly not build the kind of trust between officers and community that PERF recommends. To the trust element, PERF does not address the main element of building and maintaining relationships between police and community, which would be not partaking in gross civil rights violations and killings of civilians. Just a thought.