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In the Media: Baltimore Police Get Used to Body Cameras; Advocates Concerned For Homeless in Winter

Baltimore Police Officers at Camden Yards.
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Baltimore Police Officers at Camden Yards.

A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.

From The Baltimore Sun: Footage from Body Cameras Shows Baltimore Officers on the Job, and Getting Used to Filming

"The footage shows a Baltimore police officer walking up to the driver's side window of a car he'd just pulled over downtown. The audio begins a few seconds later…

"The video from Nov. 2, obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a Maryland Public Information Act request, is the first footage from a Baltimore police body camera to be viewed publicly. More than 150 officers in east, west and central Baltimore began wearing body cameras at the end of October as part of a pilot program that will test three different types of the camera technology before the department selects a single vendor to provide cameras to officers throughout the city under a permanent program next year. The pilot program lasts through Friday.

"The launch of the pilot program reflects a national trend toward equipping law enforcement officers with cameras amid heightened scrutiny of police actions, particularly in urban and predominantly African American communities like Baltimore.

"Citizen filming of police encounters — like the arrest of Freddie Gray in April, which spurred protests against police brutality and preceded rioting in the city — has also become far more common in recent years. Such citizen videos have led to police officers being charged with crimes, as in the case of the shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago, but also to departments arguing that those videos don't show the officers' point of view in an encounter.

"Legislators in Annapolis are expected to take up legislation to govern such programs statewide in January. The department's body camera program, the result of an independent city effort to adopt the technology, is meant to bring an added layer of transparency to the work officers do every day, Davis has said."

Read the full article and see the video at The Baltimore Sun

From The Baltimore Sun: Advocates Concerned Baltimore Still has no Winter Plan for Homeless

"Advocates for the homeless are alarmed that days before the official start of winter, city officials haven't settled on a plan to keep the city's homeless sheltered from the cold.

"On Thursday, the advocates and social service providers said they succeeded in pressuring officials from the mayor's office to back off a plan to only make overflow shelter space available when the temperature dropped to near zero. The existing policy opens additional shelter space when the temperature falls below 13 degrees or other harsh weather conditions exist.

"The backpedaling by the city still leaves details of a winter plan unresolved, said Antonia K. Fasanelli, executive director of Homeless Persons Representation Project Inc., a legal services and advocacy group.

"'It's a frightening thing for our clients who have no place to stay but outside,' said Fasanelli, who also serves on a homeless strategy panel created by the city in 2013 called The Journey Home. She said she heard about the proposed change at a board meeting there earlier this week."

Full Article

From The Washington Post: Freddie Gray Mistrial Tarnishes Image of Baltimore Police

"The Baltimore Police Department is a clear loser in the no-win situation left by a hung jury in the state’s first effort to convict an officer in the death of Freddie Gray.

"Both defense attorneys and prosecutors portrayed the department as so dysfunctional its officers either aren’t aware of mandatory orders or ignore commands without consequence. First responders described being unfamiliar with first aid. Officers said they only check their email once a month, on old computers that barely work.

"When Gray finally arrived at the Western District station injured and comatose, Officer Zachary Novak testified that he tried to revive him with a 'sternum rub' — a pain stimulus that involves grinding the chest with a fist. “I was never qualified to do it. I just saw it a few times in my career,” Novak said.

"The jury deadlocked Wednesday on all four charges against Officer William Porter: manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct. Prosecutors portrayed Porter as a callous officer who intentionally failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt and didn’t call an ambulance even after Gray indicated he needed medical aid. But Porter said officers rarely belted prisoners, if ever, despite their general order requiring them to do so. He called it common practice to avoid calling ambulances.

"Witness after witness told similar stories reflecting institutional failures and chaotic, dangerous situations. Young officers on patrol weren’t adequately trained or mentored, they said, and simply tried to do their best despite next-to-no experience. Porter even described how his academy training was disrupted when a teacher accidently shot a student during an exercise.

"Prosecutors sought to show that a single officer failed in his duty. The defense exploited deep fissures between the police and the people of Baltimore, saying the department failed its officers as well as the city it’s designed to protect."

Full Article