The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) [official website] on Monday publicly released an independent report [text PDF] detailing issues with the police response during the April civil unrest, including lack of clear guidance and inadequate protective gear. The report, prpared by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) [advocacy website], enumerated failures of the BPD and included recommendations that police departments may use in the future when in encountering mass protests. The BPD became overwhelmed in April during the mass uprising following the death of Freddie Gray [JURIST report] in police custody. PERF found that the police where overwhelmed by a lack of leadership for multiple police units, unclear orders on how to engage, an inability to process arrested individuals, and a complicated relationship with media outlets. PERF made several recommendations that the BPD has already implemented, including establishing mutual aid agreement with other agencies and creating an emergency arrest category to detail how arrested individuals are processed and if those arrested individuals will receive the same rights and notice as those detained in non mobilization encounters. The BPD has already begun training its officers in mass mobilization procedures and forging relationships with other agencies and media outlets. PERF also found that the equipment was severely lacking and called for an increase in nonlethal options just as rubber bullets, tear gas and gas masks. PERF cautioned against having officers engage in full force riot gear in order to prevent tense situations from escalating. The BPD has already implemented [press release, PDF] many of the recommendations cited in the report and is close to implementing others.

Claims of police abuse continue to generate controversy throughout the US causing mass protests and acts of civil disobedience. In September a Ferguson, Missouri, reform panel released a report [JURIST report] calling for the consolidation of police departments and municipal courts. Last year a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that the police tactics used on protesters in Ferguson was unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction. The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] published a report [JURIST report] last year arguing that increased militarization of police forces is putting citizens at risk rather than protecting them. PERF hopes their recommendations will assist police departments across the country when these uprisings occur.