Justice Department to launch Baltimore probe

The Justice Department will launch a comprehensive investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, according to multiple media reports Thursday.

The probe comes weeks after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, while in police custody, sparked protests across the city and nationwide. The Justice Department is already looking into Gray’s death, but the new investigation is a much broader review of its general methods and practices, including alleged excessive force and widespread discrimination.

{mosads}If the Department of Justice (DOJ) finds systemic problems, it will likely seek a consent decree, an agreement that binds the department to fixing those problems.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had asked DOJ to launch the investigation earlier this week.

“We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community,” she said Wednesday.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to reform my department.”

New Attorney General Loretta Lynch traveled to Baltimore Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and community leaders.

Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby announced charges last week against six officers surrounding Gray’s death, saying she believes Gray died because he was not properly restrained in the back of a police van. Representatives for the officers disputed the charges and argued that they were not responsible.

The Justice Department recently completed a high-profile “pattern and practice” investigation into the police department of Ferguson, Mo., after 18-year-old Michael Brown died in an altercation with an officer. The agency found wide-spread discriminatory policing in its report released in March. 

— Last updated at 7:35 a.m. Friday.