New Baltimore PD Use of Force Policy is Awful
Baltimore PD: Use of Force Policy Update
Starting Friday, Baltimore PD will be implementing a new use of force policy. The new policy pushes “sanctity of life,” de-escalation, and requires police officers to intervene if they see another officer violating policy. It’s no coincidence that the new policy is coming just ahead of the Department of Justice investigation into Baltimore PD.
The Baltimore Sun reports:
Mayor Rawlings-Blake, who announced the policy changes alongside Police Commissioner Kevin Davis at police headquarters, said the use of force by officers is “one of the most scrutinized areas in policing, and it is incumbent upon the police department to ensure its officers are well trained and knowledgable about the procedures when a decision is made to use force.”
Rawlings-Blake said city residents never tell her they want “an aggressive police department; they say they want an effective police department,” which she said the changes would help create.
Davis said officers would be empowered by the clarity in the new policy, and said any suggestion the changes would inhibit officers from policing proactively was “just silly.”
He said the policy would continue the department’s recent progress. He said citizen complaints about excessive force were already down 40 percent to date this year.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the local union that represents rank-and-file officers, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Police Department revised the policy in consultation with outside groups and institutions including the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, and local prosecutors and public defenders, officials said.
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The new policy broadens reporting requirements for incidents in which an officer uses force. It defines three distinct categories of force — Levels 1, 2, and 3 — and the reporting requirements associated with each.
“There’s really a focus on de-escalating when possible,” said Jason Johnson, the department’s new director of strategic development. “And also when force is necessary, that the force is proportional.”
For the first time, the policy will require reporting when an officer points his gun at a suspect without shooting or flashes a Taser’s electrical current without firing.
We don’t have the policy in front of us, but we have some serious concerns about some of the things mentioned.
“Sanctity of life” does not belong in a use of force policy. If Baltimore wants to train their officers in sanctity of life and preserving life in any way possible, that’s great to have in training. The problem arises when you put philosophical concepts into policy. Policy is used to tell police officers what they are, and are not allowed to do. When you start throwing philosophy into policy, then it can be interpreted a number of ways. An police officer who is forced to use deadly force in a legally justified situation can be accused of violating policy for not doing more to preserve the suspects life.
Every day, we see police officers risk their lives to avoid using deadly force against people who are threatening their lives. Those officers are making a personal decision to risk not going home to their families in order to save somebody who is endangering others. When agencies start requiring police officers to run into danger in order to save the lives of criminals who are threatening the lives of others, then they have devalued the lives of the police officers themselves. If somebody makes a conscious decision to threaten the lives of others, they are making a decision to lose their life as a possible consequence, and it’s not the job of police officers to risk themselves to save people from their own actions.
What is also disturbing in this policy is a requirement for documenting the display of a firearm or Taser. The display alone is harmless and may deter suspects from fighting. By documenting displays as a use of force, agencies are opening up the potential for cherry-picking police officer’s stats. Somebody who displays their gun or Taser may not have to use force in order to take a suspect into custody, but by documenting it as a use of force, their use of force numbers may look artificially high. Not only that, but by adding cumbersome bureaucratic paperwork to non-incidents, police officers are likely to reduce their displays just to reduce paperwork. Deterring officers from harmless displays of weapons can only result in more suspects and officers getting hurt.
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Earnesto
This policy is no worse than the body cams implemented. This policy can be a good thing if not taken wrong and taken the right way. Every officer knows who the ones are who have a temperament issue more than average. These officers should be taken off the streets and rotated or gotten rid of because a lot of states are implementing negligent retention laws which states if you retain officers who are more than likely to recommit hostile actions toward people the department will be subject to very stiff fines and law suits. Its coming to every store near you.
robert cooper
Whenever a police has to make a split second decision, and you add in so many variables and vague interpretations to follow, you will have officers hesitating and getting injured or killed. This policy , as I have read it, is pure Lunacy. It is Black Racist thinking, Politically Correctness, and stupidity all in one Order. And since the trials of the 6 are coming back not guilty, no evidence, why is a policy change necessary.? To appease thugs, criminals, and a victim mind set that has been instilled in the Black community for decades. It is all a hoax and false pretexts. I will tell the officersthis, when you go on the street, hide, become blind to all things minor, and take no action untill the incident has already occurred. Then take your report, turn it in, and go home iat the end of your shift. Your life and safety is worth much more that those who live and run the city value it at.