Revelations from the Baltimore police corruption trial

It’s hard to think of the police these days without picturing militarized goons who care little for the people (and pets) they harm, and it’s increasingly clear why. Let’s just take a look at Baltimore, where an ongoing trial has revealed some truly amazing goings-on within the city’s police department:

Baltimore cops on trial (left to right): Marcus Taylor, Momodu Gando, Daniel Hersl, Wayne Jenkins, Maurice Ward, Evodio Hendrix & Jemell Rayam

According to the Baltimore Sun, it started when a 19-year-old woman from New Jersey overdosed in 2011 and authorities began tracing the origin of the drugs. It led them to a Baltimore drug crew and the discovery that a Baltimore police officer was involved. By the time they finished investigating, eight members of the elite Gun Trace Task Force had been charged with crimes ranging from racketeering to robbery.

You want robbery? How about the story of the corrupt squad stopping a drug dealer during a traffic stop and robbing him of $6,500, then going to the man’s home without a warrant and taking another $100,000 out of a safe? Sgt. Wayne Jenkins would ask suspected drug dealers, “If you could put together a crew of guys and rob the biggest drug dealer in town, who would it be?”

If you’re interested in police targeting regular citizens, maybe you should read about how the Maurice Ward had a technique of driving fast at groups of people, slamming on the brakes and chasing whoever ran. Perhaps you hear how Jenkins believed that all young men with backpacks were dope boys. Or people who drove Honda Accords with tinted windows.

And then there’s the revelation that the supervisor of the unit instructed officers to carry a toy gun just in case they found themselves “in a jam” and needed to plant one. When one of the officers, Marcus Tayor, was arrested, officials couldn’t figure out why he had a toy gun in his glove compartment.

It’s like these cops saw Training Day and thought it was an instructional video, only they figured they could outdo it in every way. And then they did, and got away with it for years. It’s impossible to know how many people may be in jail or in the ground whose names are saddled with accusations that were never true, bolstered by evidence these cops pulled out of their ass – or their glove box, as it were. These rotten cops are (hopefully) going to jail for a long time, but their legacy will live on for longer still.

Just another example to point to whenever someone asks why it is so many people, especially minorities, distrust or outright hate the police, and why police reform movements are gaining steam across the country.

(via @radleybalko)