Federal report: Entrenched discrimination plagued Baltimore PD

The Baltimore Police Department regularly discriminated against African-Americans in poor communities, according to a report released today by the U.S. Justice Department. City leaders have vowed to overhaul the department based on the federal investigation’s findings. Like many other urban police departments, the Baltimore agency adopted a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy in the late 1990s, which eventually led to a deep divide between officers and the community they swore to protect. The report found officers routinely stopped and arrested African-American residents with little or no justification. And amid the law enforcement crackdown, leaders did little to prevent a culture of entrenched discrimination, according to the report. As part of a court-ordered “consent decree,” the police department will adopt reforms that could cost between $5 million and $10 million annually and will include improved training and technology modernization.