Federal prosecutors arrested [DOJ press release] seven Baltimore police officers on Wednesday on racketeering charges. The police officers are suspected of conducting illegal stops, stealing money and narcotics from individuals, swearing false affidavits, submitting false incident reports and participating in overtime fraud. The action may have been in response to a complaint [text, PDF] filed in January against the police department of Baltimore. The complaint alleged that some officers were depriving citizens of their rights, privileges and immunities as protected by federal law. US Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein [official profile] stated that the indictment, “is not about aggressive policing, it is about a criminal conspiracy[.]” He stated that the actions of the seven officers eroded the trust in the whole of the Baltimore City Police Department.

The national dialogue of late has been a positioning of the police versus the populace. Also this month Attorney General Jeff Sessions [official website] stated that the government should stop spending [JURIST report] federal resources on prosecuting local police and instead focus those resources on helping local police forces combat crime. In February the ACLU [official website] filed a suit alleging police discrimination [JURIST report] against black and latino citizens. In November Cleveland submitted [JURIST report] a revised use-of-force policy to a federal judge after a DOJ investigation found [JURIST report] the department was using excessive force.