Baltimore Mayor Defends Police Reforms at Sharpton Presser
Embattled Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake spoke to Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Thursday afternoon and defended the work she had done to reform the police department before the death of Freddie Gray brought protests over police abuse and national attention to the city’s struggles.
“When I went down to Annapolis to try to fight for reform, simple reforms for the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, people looked at me like his three eyes,” Rawlings-Blake said. “To stand here and say that I don’t care, that I don’t want to reform the police department, when I was down there? I’m not even going to tolerate it. The record is clear.”
Rawlings-Blake acknowledged the police department had problems, citing a Baltimore Sun report that the city had paid out over $5 million in wrongful arrest and police abuse settlements. But she insisted there had been progress as well.
“What they don’t tell you is: it’s down,” she said. “Police shootings, discourtesy, excessive force, lawsuits against the city. We’re finding more officers accused of wrongdoing guilty. They don’t want to tell you that part.”
Rawlings-Blake has come under scrutiny for several miscues since the protests boiled over last weekend, including being too hesitant to send in additional officers to keep the peace, and characterizing the protesters as “thugs.” She welcomed the Justice Department into Baltimore to examine the department and said she would eagerly adopt their suggested reforms.
Watch the clip below, via MSNBC:
[Image via screengrab]
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