Police wield a lot of power. They carry guns. Their behavior should reflect that all the time. For the vast majority it does.
But it?s why the Baltimore Police Department needs to quickly investigate the case of the young Virginia couple who got lost in Cherry Hill ? and then arrested and allegedly mistreated by an officer they asked for help. If our Officer Natalie Preston treated the couple as reported, we should fire her ? but not before she publicly apologizes to them. A delay means risking the police force?s credibility.
To recap, on Saturday, Llara Brook, 20, and her boyfriend, Josh Kelly, 22, drove to Baltimore from Chantilly, Va., to see an Orioles game. Driving home they got lost in Cherry Hill and stopped to ask Baltimore Housing Police Officer Natalie Preston for directions.
The Examiner?s Stephen Janis first reported the story Tuesday. According to Brook, Officer Preston said, “You found your way in. You can find your way out.”
Preston wrote Kelly a citation for not obeying a stop sign ? something he refutes. Afterward, the couple drove a short distance and stopped because they still did not know how to leave the area. The officer reportedly followed them and arrested them for “trespassing.”
Their car was subsequently towed and a number of items that should have been taken out of it by police were stolen.
The State?s Attorney?s Office is not going to prosecute the couple. [The couple recently hired an attorney and plans the sue the city over their treatment.]
Statistics show that the number of these “nuisance” arrests keeps climbing since the beginning of the year. In February, the State?s Attorney dismissed 902 of these cases; in March, the number rose to more than 1,200.
How many real crimes are being committed while others like Llara Brook and Josh Kelly are being arrested? How many other people?s rights each day are being trampled? How many tourists will now never come here?
We?d like to know why these types of arrests are climbing. Did police policy change? Are officers required to make more arrests? If so, who ordered the increase?
“We don?t do directives like that,” said Mayor Martin O?Malley. “Never have, never will.” He said the police force is investigating the case, and if action needs to be taken against the officer, it will.
We?re glad to hear that. But we still wonder about the leadership behind her behavior. In an article in today?s paper, Stephen Janis reports that a supervisor in the Baltimore Housing Police pressured officers to make more trespass arrests.
Many people have done extraordinary things, including many, many in law enforcement, to make Baltimore a thriving community and an arts and entertainment destination. We know you join us in not wanting that effort undone by a few bad cops.
And we hope Brook and Kelly will come back to Baltimore. We?re going to buy a few Orioles tickets for them and invite them back.
