Accountability Board takes close look at viral video of Baltimore officer chasing person
New questions were asked about police accountability and transparency during a Baltimore City Council Public Safety hearing Tuesday, after a disturbing video last week showed an officer chasing someone in his police cruiser.
The planned meeting included the Council Public Safety Committee, Police Accountability Board, and the Baltimore City Police Department.
Baltimore City Police released new data about officer complaints, including 959 involving a member of the public. Additionally, 286 officers have two or more complaints involving the public
These statistics were met with frustration from some members of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, but the city's Police Accountability Board said this information will ultimately drive policy change.
Officer suspended after pursuit caught on camera
The meeting happened just days after an officer was suspended for chasing a pedestrian in his police cruiser in Park Heights.
The viral video shows Officer Robert Parks following a person in his vehicle through the street, sidewalk, onto a vacant lot, and ultimately down an alleyway where the car crashes into someone's backyard.
"It was clear that it was completely and wholly unnecessary. It did not deescalate any situation," said Joshua Harris, the Vice Chair of the Police Accountability Board. "As we look at building public trust, to not just say we're going to defend officers no matter what, but if we see something that is potential wrongdoing, we're going to flag it, and we're going to do our due diligence."
The officer's police powers remaining suspended pending an investigation.
Working though a consent decree
Police Commissioner Richard Worley called the video alarming and said it will hurt the relationship between the public and police, which the department has been trying to repair through its consent decree.
"It's going to damage our relationship with the community, which is the thing that we're built trying to build up the most," Worley said last week.
WJZ spoke with some people in Park Heights in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
"It's scary for our people to have police hop out on us like that," Elijah Monte said.
Push for accountability
While the video didn't take center stage at the city council's Public Safety Meeting, several councilmembers were concerned about these statistics and even how officer recruiting plays a role.
"If they are coming from other jurisdictions, whether they have the cultural competency and or practice to serve in Baltimore communities," Councilwoman Phylicia Porter said.
The number of complaints is not a concern for the department nor the accountability board. In fact, the board wants more people to file information so that policy changes can be made.
"Oftentimes, folks have interactions with officers that they would consider negative, but in many cases, citizens are just happy that they didn't get arrested," Harris said. "We want people to understand what their rights are and not just be happy that they didn't get arrested, even if their rights were violated."
Accountability Board aims to be independent
The Accountability Board says it is still advocating to be an independent body, as the city sunsets the Civilian Review Board. The accountability board wants the council to grant it subpoena and independent investigative powers, as well as allowing it to have its own attorney separate from the department.
The board is also asking the police department to track complaint actions and outcomes so the public can have a better understanding of what happens after a filing and to create an early intervention system for officers who have many complaints.
The Police Accountability Board will have another meeting next month.