As part of the consent decree between the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), the BPD must revise a number of policies, including its Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, which prohibits discriminatory policing. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) sent a letter today to Kenneth Thompson, the independent monitor overseeing implementation of the consent decree, providing final feedback on the BPD’s draft policy.
In particular, LDF suggests the BPD amend the policy by expanding the list of state and federal laws that officers violate if they engage in discriminatory policing to include Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, particularly given the DOJ’s findings that the BPD regularly used unreasonable force against persons with mental health disabilities or who were otherwise in crisis. LDF also urges the BPD to revise its definition of discriminatory policing to include discriminatory impact and additional protected classes.
Read LDF’s letter here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.
