Judge approves plan to reform Baltimore police

She says that will take collaboration by the city, the federal government and the state.

But David Ralph, acting solicitor for Baltimore, said the consent decree “is a fair, reasonable and heavily-negotiated document”. Booker’s chief concern: Sessions’ abysmal record concerning basic civil rights, and in particular where those rights concern minorities. The ruling allows Baltimore officials to seek an independent monitor and set up an office for auditors who will ensure police leaders make changes to address the claims that officers routinely violated residents’ civil rights by making unjust stops and arrests, among other abuses and violations.

Sessions said in a statement Friday that while he supports efforts to reform policing, “there are clear departures from many proven principles of good policing that we fear will result in more crime”.

Two mothers spoke of their sons being shot and killed by Baltimore police officers in past years.

In the wake of Judge Bredar’s order today, we urge Attorney General Sessions to faithfully implement this consent decree and to reconsider his flawed belief that such agreements compromise public safety. She said, “please move forward on this”. “Somehow, some way, we undermined the respect for our police and made, oftentimes, their job more hard”, he said, indicating an intent to back off. The decree also mandates an overhaul of the way the department handles encounters with mentally ill residents, and sexual assault cases.

Isaac Wilson, a Black high school student, said he carries the burden of discrimination and the agreement is badly needed in the city.

That Sessions wants nothing to do with consent decrees should surprise no one. The Justice Department will likely have a hard time rolling back the consent decrees that are already in place, but those in cities with widespread discriminatory and unconstitutional policing will just have to look somewhere other than the Justice Department for relief.

(CNN) – A federal judge in Baltimore on Thursday heard nearly four hours of public testimony from dozens of passionate voices, almost all with an identical message for the court: sign off on sweeping police reforms now.

“The closest thing I’ve seen to justice is this consent decree”, he said. Signing the agreement will send a strong message to the community that reforms are quickly happening.

The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus is blasting Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he ordered the Justice Department to review police reform activities, including consent decrees. The administration wants to make sure the agreement “will help rather than hinder public safety”, Gore added, citing a crime spike in Baltimore. He says those concerns “are not limited to Baltimore”.

Monique Dixon of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund called on Judge Bredar to enter the consent decree, saying attempts by the Baltimore Police Department to reform itself have been unsuccessful and that misconduct by officers has cost the city more than $13 million in settlement payments.

“There must be effective and constitutional policing in order for the City of Baltimore to thrive”, he wrote.

The hearing in question was, in many ways, a formality.

The president of the Baltimore police union didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Last week, he ordered a review of Justice Department consent decrees and other interventions, threatening to reverse progress created to halt the unequal application of justice around the country. U.S. District Judge James Bredar said the hearing would go on as scheduled Thursday.