Almost ten years ago, in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray – a death that occurred while he was in police custody and incited widespread disturbances across Baltimore, a foot patrol assignment was given to Officer Rashad Hamond. This assignment placed him near the area of the Penn-North Metro station. Officer Hamond, in his twenties at that time, was a native of Northeast Baltimore. The waves of protests that unfurled across the cityscape were not something that caught him by surprise. To him, these public outcries were voices of long-repressed frustrations that were beginning to be aired in discussions demanding social justice.
In the midst of the Baltimore Police Department being thrown into chaos, Hamond’s assignment symbolized the city’s aspirations for a brighter tomorrow. His role was not narrowed down to mere intelligence gathering or investigation. Instead, his entire shifts were spent patrolling the streets of the Upton neighborhood – his duty was more about connecting with community members than it was about executing arrest warrants.
Today, after a passing of a decade, Hamond, who has been promoted to the rank of a sergeant and is now 38 years old, still regards those early policing experiences as fundamental life lessons. It was exactly a decade ago that several officers gave chase to and apprehended Gray after discovering a small knife in his possession. Gray, a 25-year-old man hailing from West Baltimore was handcuffed and placed, without seat restraints, inside a police van. His subsequent demise led to consecutive days of unrest which on occasion escalated into violent confrontations causing destruction, necessitating the callout of the National Guard.
In 2017, following an investigative effort by the U.S. Department of Justice which revealed widespread police practices in violation of constitutional rights targeting predominantly Black communities, the Baltimore Police and the city were subjected to court-ordered oversight. Baltimore’s predicament mirrors a series of similar federal police consent decrees triggered under the administration of former President Barack Obama, with Baltimore being one of the last cities in this succession.
These mandatory agreements outlined new policies and proposed changes aimed at mitigating incidents of abuse, thereby working to reestablish trust between police officers and citizens within communities that historically suffered from overpolicing. Whilst the successes of these initiatives yield varied opinions across Baltimore and the country as a whole, one thing is clear – the journey of reform is still ongoing.
It’s been eight years since the signing of the consent decree, and Baltimore’s progress towards implementing reforms remains a slow and measured process. The police department has allocated hefty monetary amounts to enforce compliance with four of the seventeen core stipulations of the agreement, yet its withdraw from oversight still appears to be a distant goal. The surge in gun violence following Gray’s death has further complicated matters.
However, starting from 2023, with the gradual restoration of social services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of gun violence witnessed a sharp decline. Hamond, now stationed in the Forest Park neighborhood of the city, continues to participate in routine ‘community walks’, featuring a renewed optimism that such actions can help win the confidence of local residents.
One of the notable feedbacks from the monitoring team overseeing the execution of the consent decree is the identification of staffing shortages being partly responsible for the hindrances in achieving progress. A considerable amount of officers’ time is spent responding to emergency calls, leaving less time for community policing efforts, a problem further worsened by the department’s severe shortage of about 500 officers, as pointed out by the police commissioner, Worley.
At present, the department counts approximately 2000 sworn officers as its members. However, within Sandtown-Winchester, where Freddie Gray used to reside, inhabitants have noted some improvements in police interactions, but they remain disgruntled with other intractable issues, which include a scarcity of vital resources. The closure of schools and recreational centers in the years following Gray’s demise has further aggravated the situation.
To amplify its community policing initiatives, the Baltimore Police believes that the first step must be to expand its workforce. This approach has led the department to invest more into recruitment drives and to create incentives for officers to reside within the city to develop a deeper understanding of the local neighborhoods. However, a permanent residency requirements apply only to certain higher-ranking officials, not the general police officers.
About one-fourth of the department’s sworn officers, 527 out of the 2027 officers, currently reside within the city per a recent report. But there’s a glimmer of hope that these figures could improve. A department spokesperson recently confirmed that as of the preceding month, Baltimoreans constitute approximately 57% of the recruits.