Baltimore Criminal Politics

I think what I'm going to relate is a crime. Really, it's just "normal
politics" but I can't see this as nothing less than a crime.

The City of Baltimore is spending millions of dollars to settle police
brutality cases: http://bsun.md/vGIM5U


At a time when City Hall is girding for another round of budget
battles, spending on lawsuits filed against the Police Department is
coming under increased scrutiny.

The city's budget office revealed at an investigative hearing Tuesday
that it has spent $10.4 million over the past three years — an average
of about $3.5 million annually — defending the Baltimore Police
Department against lawsuits.

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke called for the hearing over what she
called an "especially troubling" trend of the Police Department paying
out millions over brutality claims while other parts of the budget,
such as recreation centers, suffer cuts.

"Not only do they siphon off scarce funds that could have been used to
address other pressing problems in Baltimore, but each judgment also
can represent an instance where citizens were avoidably harmed by the
actions of officers whose job it is to protect them," Clarke stated in
a resolution that called for the hearing.


This is a city that is in a dire situation, financially. Black people
complained about the "broken windows" policing policy put into place
by then Martin O'Malley. "Everyone else" started complaining about the
policy after a young white couple was harassed by police after an
Orioles baseball game. That is when the non-Black media and
commentators started speaking out. Meanwhile, the Black media in the
city had been complaining FOR YEARS about the out of control police
department.

Now the financial details of these abuses are coming out and the city
has decided to hold out for a long as they can to get lower
settlements. That's a tactic that I think is wrong, especially when
police are clearly in violation of the law and regulations they work
under, but so be it. But with that savings, is the city paying
out lead paint settlements JUDGEMENTS
in which the court ruled in favor of victims?

No.

Instead, they are paying millions to beautify city owned parking lots.

I'm going to state this again: Chances are good that, one day, the
people abused by police officers are going to be sitting on a jury.
When they then vote for the innocence of an individual because they
view police in a skeptical manner, it will be the police and city
government who are to blame, not the jury members.