A lawyer for a black Baltimore police officer, who filed a complaint against a superior officer and others for ordering him to look at Ku Klux Klan Web sites, blasted city investigators for refusing to punish the officers involved in the incident and failing to release details of the probe.
Clarke Ahlers, who represents Sgt. Kelvin Sewell, said he has made two written requests to the city’s Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, seeking the result of the investigation that ended with charges of discrimination, filing false reports and evidence tampering against four white homicide officers.
But representatives for the city’s community relations commission refused to release the details of the investigation conducted by the police department’s EEOC unit during a Friday meeting.
“The department has violated their own rules and regulations requiring that investigations be released to the complainant,” Ahlers said. “The words of zero tolerance in the department are pretty words, but their actions say they tolerate racism.”
Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld conceded at a July National Association for the Advancement of Colored People meeting that charges of discrimination and filing false reports have been sustained against Lt. James Hagin, along with charges of filing false reports and evidence tampering against three other officers whom he declined to name.
But so far the department has refused to release any of the details of the findings, including the names of the other officers. No disciplinary action has been taken against any of the offices, sources familiar with the case said.
The lack of action raises questions, Ahlers said.
“Hagin is still supervising black officers. What does that tell you?” Ahlers asked.
In an e-mail, Alvin Gillard, head of the city’s community relations commission, the agency now handling the Sewell case, said, “Neither the Commission nor its staff shall disclose what has transpired during the course of any investigation.”
The charges stemmed from an alleged incident that occurred in February 2007, when Hagin ordered Sewell into his office to view KKK-related Web sites on a departmental computer.
“He pulled up approximately 25-30 Web sites of the KKK,” Sewell wrote in the complaint. “This activity went on for over one hour before I was able to leave his office.”
According to Sewell’s complaint, Hagin was attempting to convince him that his neighbors were possible Klansmen, but Sewell told The Examiner he had no interest in viewing the information.
Shortly after Sewell filed the charges, Hagin’s computer was removed by several homicide detectives, leading to charges of evidence tampering.
Staff Reporter Luke Broadwater contributed to this report.
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