Baltimore has a civilian review board for police??? Who would've guessed?

Hopefully one good thing will come out of Freddy Gray's death. The possibility that Baltimore's civilian review board will finally gain some standing. Police across the country have fought these types of review boards since they were first thought of. My hope is that boards like these across the country will gain authority for civilians to review police actions.

Civilian review boards are something that many of us have wanted for a long time. The problem is that they have never had any real strength to oversee the police department. With what's been going on in the country nationwide there needs to be a movement so that they can gain some clout. I've always hoped that the civilian review boards would Gain authority over the police by approval of funding. The police have not sent a member to work with the civilian review board in Baltimore since 2009. It's become such a non-issue to the members of the board they now rarely attend meetings.

Honestly I did not even know till today Baltimore had a board. I thought of it a little while ago and decided to look and see if one existed in Baltimore. With the national media coverage I really feel that it should've been mentioned regularly and repeatedly in the news broadcast. I have been a proponent of organizations like this since the 1980s.

One thing we could do on social media is start firing this question up so that it has to be noticed and discussed in the mainstream media.

I wonder how many people in this country with the current situation in Baltimore even knew it existed?

article on the civilian review board of police in Baltimore

As much as this is a false flag to me, and right after all the walmarts started acting like they were being outfitted as fema's or something. So 2 plus 2 kind of thing.

But citizens groups and councils overseeing and problem solving and going public with and playing hardball with police, judges, and their elected minions is exactly what every single person should being, and if they had been for the past century alot of things would not have happened. We must step up to the plate.

As we seen, the police are under the full control of the Mayor.
Just as she made them stand down during rioting, she can make them crack down beforehand to the point they were arresting people for looking funny at them.

a reply to: Unity_99

Thank you for the reply!

I was beginning to wonder if I was talking over many peoples pay grade. I've heard people state this repeatedly on the news " what is needed is a independent investigation". Besides you and I I've come to believe many people here don't even know what A independent investigation is?

The reason the police have fought civilian review boards is because they would have to confront public opinion. They would have to turn all evidence over to a civilian review board, and have it independently verified with investigators outside of their influence. But so far the police have won they know that public review boards carry no teeth. That's what needs to be changed. I believe there should be a state public review board not just delegated to municipalities. The only way for boards like that to gain influence is to have control over state funds delegated to police departments.

I often wonder why there are always cries for independent investigation yet the mainstream media never mentions civilian review boards?

Here's one of many clips from CNN where there is a cry for independent investigations. Many people don't realize that there are boards in place to do this very thing but they have no clout.

My hope is that due to current events the public gets behind these boards and they can reagin in rogue police officers. In order to defeat the blue wall of silence.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

I still don't trust the police to investigate theirselves do you?

a reply to: Greathouse

I agree, but the most important people are the people, those independent reviews need to be done by councils of citizens in every area, and the only way to get unity is for people to stop casting the blame on others, stop looking down on others, and therefore it must happen from the bottoms up, to include all and create respect for others, and win/wins. That is when we will finally win and form our improved societies and governments with real qualified people being elected, and fired as needed, and citizens upgaded to higher mind levels.

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: TinfoilTP

I still don't trust the police to investigate theirselves do you?

We do not have a mob rules system. The police have to deal with professional investigators of internal affairs, do you think they are buddies with those guys? The police take direction from elected officials. If the elected Mayor says I want my policy to be tough on crime get out there and make more arrests, the police follow orders. If the elected Mayor says stand down and let a riot destroy property, they obey orders. The Mayor directs the police commissioner who directs those under him on policy. That is local police. It is almost always the case we see local police in these messes, and the local authority over them always gets a pass. You don't see State police or FBI in the middle of these messes, only to clean up afterwards.

To sum up, we already have civilians controlling the police, look no further than that despicable Baltimore Mayor.

Look at their record, likely 100% in support of police.

a reply to: Unity_99

Bravo you understand what's going on. I believe for the review boards a cross-section of citizens is needed to be fair. I could imagine a board like that with ex police officers, housewives, attorneys, prosecutors, Black community leaders and even ex-felons who understand what it is like to experience judicial system.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

You might want to read some of my other replies. I think it should be at the state level overseeing all police in that state. I also think that it should represent a cross section of the citizens of that state. That would negate all of the local authority you speak of.

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: Unity_99

Bravo you understand what's going on. I believe for the review boards a cross-section of citizens is needed to be fair. I could imagine a board like that with ex police officers, housewives, attorneys, prosecutors, Black community leaders and even ex-felons who understand what it is like to experience judicial system.

You need a civilian board guarding against the politician Mayors from doing things detrimental to their communities.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

You got to start somewhere ! The civilian review boards already have a start against the police all they need is a little power now.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

I agree. Should have been formed long ago, you can't have any form of a democracy even the representational form, without real citizens constantly on the job able to fire, and overturn everything needed. And also able to play hardball with local politics and city counsel, ie land donations and yurts aquaponics for the homeless, for example, and doing away with unlawful legislation that criminalizes individual right of choice on all kinds of matters.

a reply to: TinfoilTP

Yes absolutely they are buddies with those guys. Comraderie supersedes in Internal Affairs from what I've gathered. Cops don't rat out other cops. As long as you have cops investigating cops you may as well have the fox guarding the henhouse. That's just how it works. What's needed is a citizen review board which has TEETH and which is immune from influence.

originally posted by: AreUKiddingMe
a reply to: TinfoilTP

Yes absolutely they are buddies with those guys. Comraderie supersedes in Internal Affairs from what I've gathered. Cops don't rat out other cops. As long as you have cops investigating cops you may as well have the fox guarding the henhouse. That's just how it works. What's needed is a citizen review board which has TEETH and which is immune from influence.

Internal affairs are not buddies they have separate offices and are known throughout the police as the rat squad. Not something you say about your buddies, They report directly to the police commissioner. He sets policies and procedures for the police in baltimore its a man by the name of Anthony Batts.

Heres an interview with him done recently about the challenges of Baltimore.

www.c-span.org.../qa-anthony-batts

Regardless of how the kid got injured, that's not the problem.

The problem is people thinking that it is OK to riot when they're not happy about something.

The problem isn't with the police as a whole, it's with the idiots who turn protests into riots.

Personally, I think it's a case of dumb luck and the kid got injured during an altercation with the cops. (Who then didn't handle it the right way...they should have took him right to the hospital). Who knows if that would have even changed anything? Point is, it isn't fair to blame the entire department or city for the actions of one or a few officers.

originally posted by: Gazrok
Regardless of how the kid got injured, that's not the problem.

The problem is people thinking that it is OK to riot when they're not happy about something.

The problem isn't with the police as a whole, it's with the idiots who turn protests into riots.

Personally, I think it's a case of dumb luck and the kid got injured during an altercation with the cops. (Who then didn't handle it the right way...they should have took him right to the hospital). Who knows if that would have even changed anything? Point is, it isn't fair to blame the entire department or city for the actions of one or a few officers.

Maybe reading the police report it happened 1 of two ways. He had a prior injury claimed he has spinal surgery and was still recovering. Placing someone's hands behind their back could dislocate the spine if it was all ready damaged. The fault here is the police didn't take him to hospital thinking like others they arrested he was faking. People have a tendency to over exaggerate under arrest.Or thw second option is aparently during transport he was making so much noise kicking and screaming they had to stop and check on him. They claimed they had to stop again the officer went back their and after that he was quite officer claimed he fell do to not being strapped in.He claims he put him back into the seat and they continued on.this means he fell and hurt himself or the officer got very tired of the noise and shut him up. The other person they picked up thought he was banging his head against the wall. Either way if they had strapped him in he'd probably still be alive. It was a procedure that they failed to do.In older model it wasn't required and apparently these officers didn't know of policy change.

originally posted by: dragonridr

originally posted by: AreUKiddingMe
a reply to: TinfoilTP

Yes absolutely they are buddies with those guys. Comraderie supersedes in Internal Affairs from what I've gathered. Cops don't rat out other cops. As long as you have cops investigating cops you may as well have the fox guarding the henhouse. That's just how it works. What's needed is a citizen review board which has TEETH and which is immune from influence.

Internal affairs are not buddies they have separate offices and are known throughout the police as the rat squad. Not something you say about your buddies, They report directly to the police commissioner. He sets policies and procedures for the police in baltimore its a man by the name of Anthony Batts.

Heres an interview with him done recently about the challenges of Baltimore.

www.c-span.org.../qa-anthony-batts

I watched about 5 minutes of the interview, I just don't have an hour to watch this. He may have good intentions as a police commisioner, no reason to doubt that. I'm Not proud to say that in my younger years I had the privilege of watching firsthand as someone was dragged into a booking area already handcuffed and 5 or six officers stood there and kicked the guy in the head, body, and one particularly sadistic female officer kicked him repeatedly in the nuts, all while the guy was laying there moaning. On the other side of the coin I've seen particularly good officers, and their names I still remember to this day, and I remember the good, kind things that they did. There's a full range of the spectrum, just like in society. I think the more bodycams the better, unaltered evidence like that tells a better story. Stuff can get shoved under the rugs too easy when you rely on internal affairs, just like relying on the veterans' hospitals or nursing homes to investigate themselves. Just not a good idea.

a reply to: Greathouse

The only issue i have with civilian review boards are the political power a police commissioner may have, and the ability to "stack the deck" (so to speak).

But if i am being honest, my thoughts are that in a nation of free people, the police should mostly be policing people who are willing to be policed. Even in the "worst" places police should not have to fear for their life on any given day, because the population they are policing is willing to be policed.

Is that possible that the moment? Oh no...not at all. But the way I see it is a majority of the issues police find amongst the public relates to the public wanting to live their lives, and the police interfering in that. Drug laws are an example, but by no means the only example.

I also think that from a socioeconomic standpoint, large cities have failed in their job. "Urban decay" is a result of poor city management just as much as anything else. Municipalities have it within their power to guide city development in a way that minimizes the growth of urban decay.

Then again, my city can't even manage to make sure I don't hit 6 red lights while driving up the main road in the city in the morning. One would think with it being a state highway, concern would be had over keeping traffic moving instead of having traffic stop every 3 blocks for a red light. Such is the stupidity of government.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Well said, I feel urban decay is predetermined for the cities is due to population and wealth distribution.

But I would like to touch on your comment about the police commissioner being able to stack the deck. It is my feelings that civilian review personnel should be voted into office and not nominated.

As for your comment about red lights take a look at my signature.