Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Thursday that it’s possible the Justice Department and Baltimore officials will agree to a consent decree to reform the city’s police department in the next few weeks.
“At this point, the ball’s in the city’s court,” Lynch said during a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. She noted that her first trip to Baltimore as attorney general was to deal with the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
Lynch said she will travel to Baltimore again in January, one of her last trips as attorney general, and will “hopefully” have an announcement on the status of consent decree negotiations between the department and the city.
“We are looking forward to getting a positive response from [city officials] on finalizing this consent decree and making sure that everyone in Baltimore has the constitutional policing that all citizens deserve,” Lynch said.
Following the 2015 death of Gray, a 25-year-old black male, the department opened an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department. In August, the agency released a scathing report on the BPD and its extensive civil rights violations, and has been negotiating a consent decree.
That decree, Lynch noted, would be binding to the police department regardless of who is in charge in the administration. It is also enforceable in court, Lynch explained.
“Having that court enforceability is key and it’s vital, particularly in Baltimore, ” Lynch said.
