Legal Commentary

Policing the Baltimore Police

By TChris

The former head of Internal Affairs at the Baltimore Police Department, Joann Branche, says "the department is rife with corruption and turns a blind eye to bad officers patrolling the streets." Branche was fired in April for allegedly backdating documents so that disciplinary charges (which must be filed within a year of the alleged misconduct) would appear to have been timely filed. The president of the black police officers' union claims that Branche allowed charges against white officers to lapse while she pursued charges against black officers.

Blanche was fired five months after being promoted and given a $30,000 raise, a fact that lends some credibility to her contention that charging decisions were micromanaged by a Deputy Police Commissioner who interfered with her decision-making. According to Blanche, punishment was based on who the accused officer knew and back-door deals were struck with officers who were well connected.

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There were instances where recommendations for punishment were not followed. In fact, there were cases that should be punished that were dismissed," she said.

Blanche might be a disgruntled ex-employee who was legitimately fired. The fact that Blanche is black doesn't negate the possibility that she favored white officers over black officers. The only thing that's clear is that Blanche is correct in her assertion that some of the dismissed claims should have been pursued.

One high-profile case dismissed accused two white officers of forcing a black coworker to view racist material on the Internet. Another regarded the southwest district's flex squad in which officers were accused of raping a woman inside the police station.

Whether the white officers were protected by Blanche or by the department's power structure, it's clear that something needs to change in the way the department's disciplinary process is administered. Blanche has made the sensible suggestion that the mayor should "create an outside entity to handle police misconduct cases." Through a spokesperson, the mayor responded that she doesn't intend to do so. Why not?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 05, 2009 (boomark / email).