Md. Cop who died in shooting outside police station was killed by friendly fire, department says
The Prince George's County, Md., Police Department said in a statement Monday that an autopsy had revealed that officer Jacai Colson was "Inadvertently shot by a fellow responding officer during the gun battle." Three brothers are in custody in connection with his death, police said. Ref. USAToday.
Baltimore police regularly violated constitutional rights, Dept. Of Justice says in new report
The U.S. Department of Justice concludes that the Baltimore Police Department routinely violated citizens' constitutional rights, describing the relationship between the community and the police as "Broken." Ref. USAToday.
Baltimore police face major changes after blistering report
A Justice Department report blasting the Baltimore Police Department for a pattern of unconstitutional behavior should help expedite a lengthy, costly and painful reform effort, city and federal officials said Wednesday. The report claims officers routinely conducted unlawful stops and used excessive force often targeting low-income, African-American neighborhoods. Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said the division and Baltimore police are negotiating a consent decree on proposed reforms. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the report will help provide a "Road map" for changes already underway in the department. Ref. USAToday.
Justice Department and Baltimore strike police reform agreement
Four months after issuing a blistering indictment of police operations in Baltimore, the Justice Department and the city struck a deal Thursday aimed at restoring the "Broken" trust between law enforcement and the community whose African-American residents were targeted with excessive force and and unlawful stops. The announcement at Baltimore's City Hall by Attorney General Loretta Lynch marked a return to the city that the nation's chief law enforcement officer visited during the first days of her tenure, as authorities struggled to regain control of violent uprisings following the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray. Ref. USAToday.
Search for Baltimore shooters amid calls for gun control. No arrests had been made early Monday after multiple shooters fired on a block party in south Baltimore early Sunday.
• The victims ranged in age from 13 to 32 and four of them were under 18, Worley said.
• Hours before the shooting there had been several false alarms of people mistaking the sounds of fireworks for gunfire at the block party, Lakell Nelson, 54, told the Baltimore Sun. However, when she was leaving, the actual shooting began and "The shots were just going on and on and on."
• The shooting renewed calls for focus on the alarming number of illegal guns in the city. Baltimore has recorded nearly 130 homicides and close to 300 shootings this year. Source 9q.