Judge denies DOJ request, approves Baltimore police reforms

By Brian Seay

A federal judge in Maryland approved an Obama era consent decree Friday mandating police reforms in Baltimore, just days after the Department of Justice asked for more time to review it.
The decree, which came after a rigorous Civil Rights investigation into Baltimore Police Department practices, and was signed in the waning days of President Obama’s administration, is effective immediately.
U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, an Obama appointee, had final approval on the decree, and he gave the Justice Department and Baltimore officials two weeks to hammer out a timeline for implementation.
The process is expected to cost Baltimore $30 million to implement. Reforms would reboot BPD’s civilian oversight, adopt a community-oriented policing approach, see to it that officers use de-escalation techniques and proper use of force, and ensure full and fair investigations into allegations of employee misconduct, among other efforts.
Early last week, Justice Department officials asked Bredar to delay his ruling. “The United States seeks this extension of time to assess whether and how the provisions of the proposed consent decree interact with the directives of the President and Attorney General,” Justice Department attorneys said in a motion filed April 3.
Four days later, Bredar said in his order that the government’s

Source: Guns.com