Mayor Rawlings-Blake Issues Statement in Support of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Town Hall Meeting

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 16, 2015)—Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued the following statement in support of tonight's community Town Hall meeting hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Program. The meeting is scheduled to take place in the Grace Jacobs Center at Coppin State University from 6:30 – 8:00 pm.

Mayor Rawlings–Blake and Police Commissioner Anthony Batts recruited the COPS Program to Baltimore City to enhance numerous reforms already underway aimed at building trust, transparency and accountability between the police and community.

"We aggressively recruited this program to Baltimore because of its proven track record of working with departments to build greater trust and transparency between police and the community. Baltimore has seen steady and measurable progress to date. The number of lawsuits filed against the city, discourtesy and misconduct complaints are all decreasing while the numbers of officers accepting punishment and found guilty at trial board hearings have increased. Baltimore City is far from perfect, but we are making solid progress and moving in the right direction. I am determined to not allow a small handful of bad actors tarnish the reputation of the overwhelming majority of police officers putting their lives in danger to make Baltimore a safer city.”

As of February 2015, 21 Baltimore Police Department officers have accepted punishment outright. Meanwhile, all five of the officers who instead decided to go through trial board hearings have been found guilty.

2015 (as of February)

• Officers accepting punishments: 21 (71 percent)
• Officers found guilty through trial board hearings: 5 (86 percent)

2014

• Officers accepting punishments: 74 (63 percent)
• Officers found guilty through trial board hearings: 19 (84 percent)

2013

• Officers accepting punishments: 66 (55 percent)
• Officers found guilty through trial board hearings: 17 (77 percent)

2012

• Officers accepting punishments: 69 (50 percent)
• Officers found guilty through Trial Board Hearings: 20 (57 percent)