On April 19, 2015, Freddie Gray, a young African-American man, succumbed to spinal cord injuries he suffered while in the custody of Baltimore City police officers. His was the fifth in-custody death in Baltimore in three years, laying bare the longstanding problem of police violence against people of color in Baltimore and across the nation. 

Since then, the Baltimore community has been unyielding in pushing for lasting policing reform so that Mr. Gray’s death will not have been in vain, but the work is far from over. A consent decree between the U.S. Department of Justice and Baltimore City officials to remedy the Baltimore City Police Department’s long list of unconstitutional practices has been approved, but it won’t be enforced without the unflinching dedication of Baltimore residents to hold the DOJ and Baltimore city officials to their committment to enforce the agreement. We urge Baltimore residents and stakeholders to become familiar with the terms of the agreement and serve as individual monitors of it.  Reform won’t happen overnight. It must be demanded every day.

Resources

  • Clergy letter to President Obama regarding the death of Freddie Gray
  • LDF letter to DOJ requesting expansion of probe to school police
  • DOJ letter responding to LDF’s request to probe the Baltimore school police 
  • Campaign for Justice Safety and Jobs letter regarding Baltimore police union contract
  • September 2016 Baltimore Town Hall with Congressman Elijah Cummings 
  • LDF letter commenting on Baltimore Agreement in Principle with DOJ
  • LDF comment letter on the Baltimore consent decree 
  • LDF moves to intervene in DOJ case against city officials
  • The consent decree between Baltimore and the Department of Justice
  • Fact sheet: Justice Department consent decree with the Baltimore Police Department and the city of Baltimore
  • Judge James K. Bredar’s order approving the Baltimore consent decree
  • Judge James K. Bredar’s denial of our motion to intervene in Baltimore consent decree case
  • The City of Baltimore’s website dedicated to the consent decree
  • Watch Director of Policy Todd Cox and Deputy Director of Policy Monique Dixon discuss the Baltimore consent decree and next steps
  • Read our one-page summaries of the 26 the monitor applications to oversee the consent decree 
  • Read our one-page summaries of only the final four monitor applications to oversee the consent decree
  • LDF Letter to DOJ providing feedback on the monitor applications to oversee the consent decree
  • LDF testimony to Baltimore City Council opposing mandatory minimum gun bill
  • LDF Letter to DOJ, Baltimore officials, and the independent monitor providing input on the implementation priorities for the first year of the agreement
  • LDF overview of independent monitoring team’s first-year plan.
  • LDF’s questions for Commissioner-Designate De Sousa to answer at his confirmation hearing

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