The last of six Baltimore police officers involved in the 2015 arrest of a young black man who died from a spinal cord injury he sustained in a police van won’t face a disciplinary hearing after the police commissioner decided not to proceed.
Sgt. Alicia White was scheduled to face a trial board and possible termination on Dec. 5 related to Freddie Gray’s arrest and van transport.
But Wednesday night, Commissioner Kevin Davis dismissed the scheduled administrative hearing. White will face no further administrative actions, police spokesman T.J. Smith said in an email.
White’s attorney told The Baltimore Sun that White was “grateful” for the decision.
“She has always maintained her innocence from the very beginning,” Tony Garcia said.
Davis’ decision came less than a week after a police disciplinary board cleared Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer involved in the Gray arrest. The same three-member panel, made up law enforcers, recently found the police van’s driver not guilty.
The evidence and allegations against White are the same as the previous two hearings, and Davis did not feel another hearing would be in good faith, Smith said.
“We look forward to continuing the many reform efforts underway that will ensure the BPD is serving our city in a manner consistent with the expectations of our residents,” Smith said.
The death of the 25-year-old Gray set off Baltimore’s worst riots in decades and led to a federal investigation into allegations of police abuse. Baltimore and the Justice Department entered into a reform agreement after a scathing report by the federal agency outlined widespread misconduct and abuse within the city’s police department.
Rice and other officers also were acquitted of criminal charges in Gray’s arrest and death.
(AP)
3 Responses
So the Police Department did its due diligence here. I fear we will watch efforts to resume rioting. Perhaps without a BLM president in office, there will not be tacit support for this behavior. But if there is a threat to riot, i would hope the order to use lethal force against rioting thugs will be made. They may protest civilly anytime they want. But the violence and damage to public and private property is not excused because of anger. It should be addressed like terror and eliminated with the strongest of force.
they didn’t do any due diligence, they are just protecting their own
not a reason for rioting but bal police is pretty shameful
MTAB:
This case has been under evaluation for quite some time. Knowing how the black community reacts to decisions they don’t favor, they reached a conclusion that there should not be further action on this. Trials also found everyone tried so far not guilty. The review process is not to please the public. It is there to address allegations and determine to adjudicate or not. They reached their finding despite the risks. I would assume they did so because the fact pattern pointed that way. I don’t believe it is about protecting their own. Now it may be true that the Baltimore Police have an issue with brutality etc. I doubt that was the case here.