Black officers claiming discrimination in a lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department have won a major victory with a federal judge?s decision ordering the city to turn over thousands of internal disciplinary files.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul W. Grimm?s ruling requires the city to turn over more than 15 years? worth of documents detailing department disciplinary actions, Internal Affairs investigations and trial board hearings.
The city argued it would be “burdensome” and “costly” to turn over the records. But the judge brushed aside that argument and ordered the city to deliver the documents “completely” and “unevasively” within 60 days.
Sterling Clifford, the spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon and police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld, said neither would comment because the case is pending.
City Councilman Jack Young, the Public Safety and Health Committee chairman who has criticized the lack of diversity in the department?s command staff, said he had confidence in Bealefeld, who took over in July.
“I can?t comment on the lawsuit, but I know Commissioner Bealefeld made promises to increase diversity at the top for all minorities, and I hope to see change,” Young said.
The ruling marks the latest development in a civil rights lawsuit brought by Sgt. Louis Hopson, a 28-year veteran of the force, and 14 other black officers, claiming blacks received more severe discipline than their white counterparts for similar offenses.
The lawsuit, filed in 2004, cites Equal Employment Opportunity Commission findings that showed unequal treatment of black officers impeded promotions and, in some cases, forced them to leave the department. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Paul Blair, head of the city police union, said turning over years of data could be nearly impossible for the department.
“You have to realize the department doesn?t keep records on everything and that many of the people who may be involved may have retired or could be dead,” Blair said.
Blair said uneven discipline is not always a matter of race.
“There are always going to be situations where people are disciplined less harshly because their superiors look favorably upon them and not those who are disciplined more harshly. It?s the reality of any big organization.”
In 2006, city officials admitted they had shredded key disciplinary tracking files that should have been protected under a court order requested by the plaintiffs. City officials explained the move by saying they needed to recycle file folders.
Hopson has been outspoken about discrimination within the department, testifying before the city council and state legislature.
In 1998, he was passed over for promotion to lieutenant despite earning the seventh-highest score of 100 test takers.
In the same year, a police trial board fired Hopson after concluding he lied at a rape trial of a fellow officer, but a city district court ordered him reinstated, ruling Hopson did not commit perjury.
For the city, a lot rides on the suit?s outcome. The department could lose all federal grant money if discrimination is proved.
As recently as 2007, the department has been criticized for lack of diversity on the command staff, with The Examiner reporting fewer than 14 minority officers serving in the top 55 posts.
Both Bealefeld and Dixon have pledged to promote more minority officers to high-ranking positions.
