Professor Says Contract Violates Best Practices
A new study reveals a closer look is needed at police contracts nationwide for violations of best practices.
The contract between Baltimore and the Fraternal Order of Police contains several impediments to accountability, according to a report from a criminologist who often examines policies for the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to a story in the Baltimore Sun, in an 11-page report, Samuel Walker, a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said the role of police union contracts has been ignored amid the nationwide debate and protests that erupted last fall over police and community relations.
Walker said “offensive provisions” in the union contract, a three-year pact expiring next year, violate “best practices” across the country and should be revised to boost professionalism in the Baltimore Police Department.
“In Baltimore, and in other cities and counties across the country, police union contracts contain provisions that impede the effective investigation of reported misconduct and shield officers who are in fact guilty of misconduct from meaningful discipline,” Walker wrote.
The report comes as tension swirls around the Police Department in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death.
Six officers have been charged in Gray’s death from spinal injuries sustained in police custody. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into his death, as well as a broader probe of alleged misconduct in the department.
Among the provisions Walker cited include the “do not call list,” the expungement of internal records, and the makeup of hearing boards.
The contract states that officers cannot be disciplined if prosecutors place them on the “do not call list”—a list of officers who are not called to testify due to credibility issues. The Maryland Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, which provides procedural protections for officers accused of misconduct, also prohibits officers from being disciplined for being on the list.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 declined to comment on Walker’s report. In the past, it has said that contract provisions protect officers against frivolous complaints and ensure that they receive due process when being investigated for wrongdoing.
“Police officers possess the awesome power to deprive people of their liberty through arrest and to take human life,” Walker wrote. “The highest standards of integrity and honesty must be expected of all officers.”
Walker said the union contract also allows officers to have unfounded, exonerated or unsustained complaints expunged after three years, violating “new best practices.”
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