BALTIMORE (AP) — The Latest on a judge’s decision to approve an agreement between the city of Baltimore and the Justice Department to overhaul the Baltimore Police Department (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
A federal judge has approved an agreement between the city of Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice to overhaul the city’s police department.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar signed the agreement on Friday, one day after a public hearing to solicit comments from city residents. Bredar called the agreement “comprehensive, detailed and precise,” and wrote in his order that it “is in the public interest” to approve it.
Bredar earlier this week denied a request from the Justice Department to postpone Thursday’s public hearing. On Friday, he denied a second request to delay signing off on the agreement to give new leadership in the Trump administration time to review it.
The Justice Department has indicated that it intends to review all existing consent decrees to determine whether they hinder efforts to fight violence crime.
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3:15 a.m.
An attorney for the U.S. Justice Department says the agency has “grave concerns” about a proposed agreement to overhaul the Baltimore Police Department.
Justice Department attorney John Gore told a judge Thursday at a public hearing that newly minted Attorney General Jeff Sessions is concerned about the agreement and “whether it will achieve the goals of public safety and law enforcement while at the same time protecting civil rights.”
Baltimore residents overwhelmingly voiced support for a proposed overhaul.
Many shared harrowing stories of police abuse to make clear how necessary such reforms are. Multiple mothers whose sons were killed by police testified about their pain.
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