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The Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department, or BPD, provides police services to the city of
Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature
on March 16, 1845. It is organized into ten districts, nine based on
geographical areas and the Public Housing Section, and is responsible for
policing 79 square miles of land and 13 square miles of waterways.
History
The first attempt to establish a
police department in Baltimore occurred in 1784, nearly 60 years after the
founding of the original town, when a guard force of constables were authorized
to enforce town laws and arrest those in violation. In 1845 the current
Baltimore Police Department was founded by the state legislature to provide for
a better security for life and property in the City of Baltimore". In 1861,
during the U.S. Civil War, the police department was taken over by the federal
government and run by the U.S. Military until it was turned back over to the
legislature in 1862.
BPD has evolved its crime fighting
technology and techniques over the years beginning with the introduction of call
boxes in 1855. Other major technological upgrades include the introduction of
the Bertillion system in 1896, police radio communications in 1933, a police
laboratory in 1950, computerized booking procedures and 911 emergency systems in
1985, the first ever 311 non emergency system and CCTV cameras (like those in
the United Kingdom) in 1996, and the CitiStat system in 2000.
As of a 2000 survey published by the
U.S. Department of Justice in 2003, BPD is the 8th largest municipal police
department in the United States with a total of 3,034 police officers.
Comparatively as of the 2000 U.S. census Baltimore ranked as the 17th largest
city in the United States with a population of 651,154.
The first BPD officer to die in the
line of duty occurred when Sergeant William Jourdan was shot and killed by an
unknown gunman during the first city council elections on October 14 1857. Night
Watchman George Workner was the first law enforcement officer to be killed in
the city when he was stabbed during an escape attempt by nine inmates in the
Baltimore Jail on March 14 1808, but his death predates the founding of the
department. As of 2006 there have been 118 police officers killed in the line of
duty, which is by far the largest total in Maryland. The next largest total
belongs to the Maryland State Police, with 39 troopers killed in the line of
duty as of 2005.
BPD Today
Baltimore Police Districts. BPD, like
many other police departments in the United States, has experienced negative
publicity in recent years due to a few high profile corruption and brutality
allegations, including the 2005 arrest of Officers William A. King and Antonio
L. Murray by the FBI for federal drug conspiracy charges.
Former Commissioner Ed Norris was
indicted on three charges by US Attorney Thomas DiBiagio. Two of the counts
charged Norris had made illegal personal expenditures from the Baltimore Police
Departments supplemental account. The third count alleged that he had lied on a
mortgage application, stating that approximately $9,000 he received from his
father was not a giftas was stated in the loan papersbut a loan. As part of a
plea bargain in May 2004, Norris pleaded guilty to the first two counts and was
sentenced to six months in federal prison, six months of home detention, and 500
hours of community service, which Judge Dick Bennett said must be served in
Baltimore. The plea bargain avoided a possible 30-year sentence on the mortgage
fraud charge.
A rash of high profile corruption and
brutality allegations have surfaced in late 2005 and early 2006, including the
suspensions and arrests of Southwestern District flex squad officers including
Jemini Jones, Brian Schaffer, and Steven Hatley for the alleged rape of a 22
year old woman they had taken into custody for illegal possession of narcotics.
Stories surfaced about flex squad
officers planting evidence on citizens. Murder charges were dropped by the city
when it was revealed that the gunman was dropped off in rival gang territory
after a police interrogation in a squad car. The man was beaten badly and
exacted his revenge the next day. The squad's role in the shooting prompted
State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy to drop the charges.
Amid all this, intense criticism has
surfaced regarding so-called "stop-and-frisk" arrest procedures and their
alleged misuse by the BPD. The president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3,
Lieutenant Paul Blair, has stated that there are arrest quotas at work in the
police department which lead to Baltimore's astronomical arrest rate, and to
roughly 1/3 of the charges being dismissed by the State's Attorney's office.
Many of these arrests were for
"quality of life" violations such as drinking in public, loitering and public
urination. Criminal citations have generally been used for these types of
offences however, BPD General Orders and State law forbid these being issued to
persons not possessing a valid state issued identification. In cases where a
defendant does not have the required identification, the officer may make an
arrest.
BPD was potrayed in the NBC
television series Homicide: Life on the Street which ran for seven seasons and
spawned a TV movie. The series is based on the book Homicide: A Year on the
Killing Streets by David Simon and was produced by Barry Levinson. The HBO
original series The Wire also features the department and was created by David
Simon. At times, there has also been crossover in stories and characters from
Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street.
Balitmore Police Department Writers
Barry M. Baker, Baltimore Police Department
Daniel J. Shanahan, Baltimore Police Department
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Police_Department
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