RadioOnFire.com - Baltimore's congressional delegation, Maryland's two senators and its senator-elect wrote a letter to the mayor's office and Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking for an update on negotiations for Baltimore's police consent decree.
“We appreciate that it is no small task to ensure the decree fully addresses the DOJ recommendations and includes workable implementation steps. However, we are hearing growing concern from the community about the status of and delay in drafting the decree," the members of Congress wrote. "We share those concerns. It is absolutely imperative that decisive, steady, urgent progress toward crafting a meaningful consent decree be made a top priority by all involved.”
A draft consent decree was due Nov. 1.
The letter was signed on to by Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Elijah E. Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes, whose districts all include some part of the city. It was sent to Lynch, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Mayor-elect Catherine Pugh.
All are Democrats and the timing of the letter indicates concern over what President-Elect Donald Trump's Department of Justice might do with the consent decree. Trump has tapped Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, to be his attorney general.
The Obama administration Justice Department has opened 23 investigations of law enforcement agencies, also including police departments in Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri, for unconstitutional practices and has reached court-enforceable consent decrees with many of them.
As a supporter of Trump, who campaigned on law and order, Sessions is likely to pursue fewer civil rights investigations of troubled police departments.
"We appreciate the significant time and energy required to prepare for the transition of a mayoral administration, but it is absolutely necessary that the consent decree be a top priority for all of us," the members wrote. "The safety of our community is at stake."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source WBAL
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