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| Survey finds rampant police abuse in area where Freddie Gray was arrested | Survey finds rampant police abuse in area where Freddie Gray was arrested |
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| On 25 April, as a crowd of thousands gathered in west Baltimore for a large march downtown, members of a neighborhood advocacy organization began going door to door in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested to ask people about their interactions with police. | On 25 April, as a crowd of thousands gathered in west Baltimore for a large march downtown, members of a neighborhood advocacy organization began going door to door in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested to ask people about their interactions with police. |
| The No Boundaries Coalition had been working on police issues in the community since they identified police accountability as a major concern in 2013. But after speaking to more than 250 people that April day, they had a new sense of a community harassed and brutalized for minor infractions, and ignored when they need help. | The No Boundaries Coalition had been working on police issues in the community since they identified police accountability as a major concern in 2013. But after speaking to more than 250 people that April day, they had a new sense of a community harassed and brutalized for minor infractions, and ignored when they need help. |
| “In just that one afternoon, we talked to people who had had family members killed by police, people who had sustained broken bones in police encounters, and people whose house had been torn apart during a drug raid – only to find out that the police had the wrong address,” according to a report from the group. “From the stories we heard that day, we knew we needed to document the prevalence of police misconduct in West Baltimore.” | “In just that one afternoon, we talked to people who had had family members killed by police, people who had sustained broken bones in police encounters, and people whose house had been torn apart during a drug raid – only to find out that the police had the wrong address,” according to a report from the group. “From the stories we heard that day, we knew we needed to document the prevalence of police misconduct in West Baltimore.” |
| In the months since then, they have distributed thousands of flyers and talked to 1,500 individuals in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of west Baltimore. And 453 of them reported negative interactions with police, almost all defining their interactions as excessive force, according to a newly released quantitative study by No Boundaries and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (Build). | In the months since then, they have distributed thousands of flyers and talked to 1,500 individuals in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of west Baltimore. And 453 of them reported negative interactions with police, almost all defining their interactions as excessive force, according to a newly released quantitative study by No Boundaries and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (Build). |
| Charles Cange, a medical anthropologist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, classified the data collected by two community activist interviewers and plans to use it in an academic analysis. | Charles Cange, a medical anthropologist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, classified the data collected by two community activist interviewers and plans to use it in an academic analysis. |
| Related: Baltimore school police charged after video shows officer beating student | Related: Baltimore school police charged after video shows officer beating student |
| “The intergenerational impact of this police brutality is off the charts and hearing from residents that children don’t interact with police for their own safety speaks volumes,” said Cange. | “The intergenerational impact of this police brutality is off the charts and hearing from residents that children don’t interact with police for their own safety speaks volumes,” said Cange. |
| Cange describes the methodology as “purposive sampling, based on the purpose of the research which is very different than random sampling. We’re going out to find people who have these stories, because that’s the research question.” | Cange describes the methodology as “purposive sampling, based on the purpose of the research which is very different than random sampling. We’re going out to find people who have these stories, because that’s the research question.” |
| The findings will be submitted to the US Department of Justice, as it completes an investigation into the city’s police department. | |
| “The goal of the commission was to first work in concert with the DoJ investigators and to ensure residents of west Baltimore had ample opportunities to voice their concerns, relay their testimony, and ensure that in the process of establishing police reform and a consent decree in Baltimore, that our residents who have suffered decades of disinvestment and going unnoticed by our municipalities have a documented voice for how we think we should be policed,” said Ray Kelly, of the No Boundaries Coalition and one of the interviewers involved in the project. | “The goal of the commission was to first work in concert with the DoJ investigators and to ensure residents of west Baltimore had ample opportunities to voice their concerns, relay their testimony, and ensure that in the process of establishing police reform and a consent decree in Baltimore, that our residents who have suffered decades of disinvestment and going unnoticed by our municipalities have a documented voice for how we think we should be policed,” said Ray Kelly, of the No Boundaries Coalition and one of the interviewers involved in the project. |
| Of the hundreds who reported misconduct, only 39 were willing to give complete, on-the-record accounts, due to fear of retaliation from police – which was a concern to a vast majority of participants. While the number of people who were afraid to speak is revealing, Cange said 39 people who were willing to give full accounts is a large number for a qualitative study. | Of the hundreds who reported misconduct, only 39 were willing to give complete, on-the-record accounts, due to fear of retaliation from police – which was a concern to a vast majority of participants. While the number of people who were afraid to speak is revealing, Cange said 39 people who were willing to give full accounts is a large number for a qualitative study. |
| Among those who came forward was Deshawn Battles. | |
| The African American teen said he and his group of friends were walking down the street in west Baltimore one day when a police car began to follow them. One of the kids had a stick in his hand. An officer stopped the boys and told them there had been a physical attack nearby. “He took my friend and accused him of the beating and he put handcuffs on him and made him sit on the curb and for the rest of my friends he told them to go down the street before they get locked up too. … They beat him up in both of his ribs and left him on the curb, took the handcuffs off of him and drove away.” | The African American teen said he and his group of friends were walking down the street in west Baltimore one day when a police car began to follow them. One of the kids had a stick in his hand. An officer stopped the boys and told them there had been a physical attack nearby. “He took my friend and accused him of the beating and he put handcuffs on him and made him sit on the curb and for the rest of my friends he told them to go down the street before they get locked up too. … They beat him up in both of his ribs and left him on the curb, took the handcuffs off of him and drove away.” |
| Battles never reported it to police, as is common among those who say they have no trust in law enforcement. And police did not respond to a request for comment on the incident. But hundreds of other anonymous residents recounted similar violence in their encounters with police. | |
| Ninety-six percent of those who reported encounters where some force was deployed felt that police used excessive violence. Excessive force was defined as “acts of physical violence directed towards victims, detentions, abusive, demeaning and subordinating language”. But it was ultimately up to each respondent to tell their own stories, as they understood them. | Ninety-six percent of those who reported encounters where some force was deployed felt that police used excessive violence. Excessive force was defined as “acts of physical violence directed towards victims, detentions, abusive, demeaning and subordinating language”. But it was ultimately up to each respondent to tell their own stories, as they understood them. |
| “It used to be that if you did something illegal, they patted you down, they arrested you, and they locked you up. Now, they don’t even arrest you, they just take you in the alley and they beat you up. It doesn’t matter what you do,” one resident reported. | “It used to be that if you did something illegal, they patted you down, they arrested you, and they locked you up. Now, they don’t even arrest you, they just take you in the alley and they beat you up. It doesn’t matter what you do,” one resident reported. |
| Related: Court rules Baltimore officer can be forced to testify in Freddie Gray trials | Related: Court rules Baltimore officer can be forced to testify in Freddie Gray trials |
| Other respondents said they would “caution their children against contacting police officers in the case of an emergency due to fear of misconduct against their children”. | Other respondents said they would “caution their children against contacting police officers in the case of an emergency due to fear of misconduct against their children”. |
| At other times, the interviewers simply found the police unresponsive. One woman called the police more than 35 times to report drug dealers outside her home and never received any response. | At other times, the interviewers simply found the police unresponsive. One woman called the police more than 35 times to report drug dealers outside her home and never received any response. |
| The report attributes some of this to trends in policing over recent decades, including zero tolerance and “broken windows” policing that rely on stop-and-frisk techniques and interventions for minor crimes such as loitering. | The report attributes some of this to trends in policing over recent decades, including zero tolerance and “broken windows” policing that rely on stop-and-frisk techniques and interventions for minor crimes such as loitering. |
| More than 50% of informants reported that their interactions with police resulted from such “quality of life” crimes, while 30% reported being subject to stop and frisk searches – many of which resulted in humiliating searches where subjects were forced to drop their pants in public. More than 90% of respondents said that their interaction with police caused confusion or frustration and with 41% claiming long-term psychological distress and 22% reporting long-term physical injuries. | More than 50% of informants reported that their interactions with police resulted from such “quality of life” crimes, while 30% reported being subject to stop and frisk searches – many of which resulted in humiliating searches where subjects were forced to drop their pants in public. More than 90% of respondents said that their interaction with police caused confusion or frustration and with 41% claiming long-term psychological distress and 22% reporting long-term physical injuries. |
| The commission found particularly that “Baltimore city neighborhoods were policed radically different based on race and/or social economic factors.” | The commission found particularly that “Baltimore city neighborhoods were policed radically different based on race and/or social economic factors.” |
| A majority of residents felt that the problem was not a “few bad apples” but saw “the conduct of law enforcement today as a product of federal, state, and city level policy changes that are prone to over-empower police to act with impunity”, the study reads. “While informants expressed the need for individual officers to be held accountable, they did not view officers accused of misconduct as being the central problem, but rather a symptom of more extensive issues at a systemic level.” | A majority of residents felt that the problem was not a “few bad apples” but saw “the conduct of law enforcement today as a product of federal, state, and city level policy changes that are prone to over-empower police to act with impunity”, the study reads. “While informants expressed the need for individual officers to be held accountable, they did not view officers accused of misconduct as being the central problem, but rather a symptom of more extensive issues at a systemic level.” |
| The No Boundaries Coalition makes a number of policy recommendations including increased civilian oversight, the implementation of community policing models, and anti-racism and de-escalation training for officers. | The No Boundaries Coalition makes a number of policy recommendations including increased civilian oversight, the implementation of community policing models, and anti-racism and de-escalation training for officers. |