The long-awaited report on the arrest of a 7-year-old Gerard Mungo Jr., who was handcuffed and detained by Baltimore City police last month for sitting on a dirt bike has left community leaders and the boy?s mother frustrated.
“I am devastated by it,” said Lakisa Dinkins about the report released Thursday. “I am really disappointed.”
While the report said the police will undertake a “comprehensive review of its policies and procedures regarding the arrest of young juveniles for misdemeanor crimes,” under the guidance of state, and city juvenile services, it failed to answer questions on Mungo?s arrest, which sparked a series of protests in the city.
“The issue in this matter is not whether the arrest itself was legal in the eyes of the law,” the report said. “The issue is how to ensure that police officers solve problems on their posts and serve the best interests of public safety.”
To outspoken activist Darren Mohammed, the department is dragging its feet.
“It?s appalling to the community and the family, and it?s stalling when it comes to justice, there are still unanswered questions when it comes to officer conduct,” Mohammed said.
However, Mayor Sheila Dixon said she was satisfied with the report, which recommends taking juveniles who are arrested to district headquarters rather than central booking.
“I?m pleased that Commissioner Hamm is taking the department in a different direction,” Dixon said. “But I still think the officer could have handled the situation differently.”
The officers involved in the arrest have not been disciplined or suspended and have been under an internal police investigation for more than a month.
“I think there is a glaring absence of fact; you would think a month after the arrest they would give us more than this,” said Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “A four-paragraph explanation means that [it?s] missing something,” he said.
Mungo was arrested on March 12 after police saw him sitting on his dirt bike outside his East Baltimore home. Two weeks later, his mother, Lakisa Dinkins, was arrested in a separate incident for allegedly interfering with an arrest. Both cases were dropped.
“Gerard still has trouble sleeping,” Dinkins said.
