The Center for American Progress has teamed up with the Campaign for Justice, Safety, and Jobs—a coalition of Baltimore-based grassroots advocacy organizations—to release a new set of six recommendations to reform the Baltimore Police Department.
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress and the Campaign for Justice, Safety, and Jobs released a new report with six recommendations aimed at reforming the Baltimore Police Department. The report focuses on ideas that, when implemented together, would make the Baltimore Police Department more accountable to residents, more transparent about its internal workings, and ultimately more effective at preventing and solving serious crimes. As broad principles, these recommendations can serve as a model and be adapted and repurposed for other cities dealing with police-community tensions.
At a time when Baltimore and the nation are preparing for the trial of the police officers involved in Freddie Gray’s death and when the country as a whole has been made continuously aware of incidents threatening the trust between communities and the police officers sworn to protect them, the recommendations in this report outline concrete steps that police forces can take to address issues and to move toward building trust.
“For too long, police in Baltimore have been able to act with impunity,” said Ben Jealous, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, partner at Kapor Capital, and a co-convener of the Campaign for Justice, Safety, and Jobs. “With the national spotlight on Baltimore, the city’s elected and appointed officials need to respond to the long-standing demands of the community.”
The recommendations include a greater reliance on quality over quantity of arrests, an end to the city’s gag order on victims of police misconduct, the removal of police officers who have demonstrated corruption or unnecessary violence, and a commitment to get body cameras on the street within one year.
Youth activists and civil rights and faith leaders will join Ben Jealous on Friday, October 16, at Baltimore’s War Memorial Plaza to officially present these recommendations.
On Monday, October 19, CAP will host a conversation to dig deeper into this topic. RSVP here.
For more information on the report, the rally, or CAP’s event, contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.
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The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
The Campaign for Justice, Safety, and Jobs is a diverse group of over 25 community, faith, civil rights, and community leaders inBaltimore City who have come together to advocate for meaningful police reforms to promote transparency, accountability, and safety in our communities. The affiliated groups include: 1199 SEIU, ACLU of Maryland, Amnesty International, BaltimoreAlgebra Project, Beats, Rhymes, and Relief, Bmore United, CASA, Citibloc, Communities United, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Equity Matters, Empowerment Temple, Freddie Gray Project, Fusion Group, Jews United for Justice, Justice League, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, Maryland State Conference NAACP, Peace by Piece, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, Power Inside, SEIU 32BJ, Southern Engagement Foundation, Ujima People’s Progress, and Universal Zulu Nation.