The Baltimore Police Department recommended terminating two employees and disciplined several others after a nearly yearlong internal investigation that probed the agency’s response to an annual cookout that went off the rails, culminating in a deadly mass shooting that is one of the worst in the city’s history.
The disciplinary actions were announced in a terse press release by department officials that did not name any of the officers or shed light on the circumstances of the violations.
However, a more detailed “after action” report was released late last summer that depicted a police response shaped by reluctant and at times “indifferent” officers who were hesitant to engage a growing, increasingly violent crowd. The after-action report also criticized supervisors for not reallocating resources to the event, and revealed just how disconnected the department had been from the Brooklyn community.
The mass shooting happened nearly a year ago, on July 2, shortly after 12:30 a.m. A crowd of hundreds who had gathered for the annual cookout in South Baltimore became caught in a shooting, with more than a dozen guns being fired, sending people scattering in all directions.
Two of the partygoers were killed in the gunfire. An 18-year-old woman, Aaliyah Gonzalez, was pronounced dead at the scene. A young man, Kylis Fagbemi, 20, died at an area hospital. Twenty-eight others were wounded.
The Police Department’s Public Integrity Bureau investigated 15 employees for policy and misconduct violations, including one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, three officers and five civilian staff members.
It charged a dozen of them for “violations due to actions or inactions tied to the mass shooting and/or the investigation into possible misconduct,” according to the department press release. Those charges included making false statements, neglect of duty, conduct unbecoming, and body-worn camera violations.
In a statement, Police Commissioner Rich Worley thanked the integrity bureau and the independent accountability charging committee, which also reviewed the findings.
“From day one, it was important that we not only deep dive into all that happened before, during and after this tragic incident, but also to hold those accountable who violated our policies and, most importantly, the public’s trust,” Worley said. “Our department is committed to learning from this incident and rebuilding trust with the communities we serve.”
The department said it would terminate two employees over the investigation, one a sworn enforcement officer and one a civilian employee. Three sworn officers received four days’ loss of pay. Two sworn officers received three days’ loss of pay. And two sworn and three civilian officers received two days’ loss of pay.
A department spokesperson said the press release did not name any of the officers or other employees charged in the investigation because their disciplinary cases were not fully resolved, pending potential requests for a trial board.
David Jaros, a criminal law professor at the University of Baltimore, said the nameless press release, scant on details, was “the perfect example of how the administrative system for disciplining officers hampers public knowledge and our ability to regulate police misconduct.”
“This is an event that happened over a year ago,” Jaros said. “We know that two police officers have been fired. And yet, even at this point, the public still cannot learn what’s going on because of an administrative process that sets up roadblocks to that kind of information.”
Mayor Brandon Scott in a statement said that the Brooklyn Day tragedy “has left deep scars on all of Baltimore — made worse by the understanding that there were preventable failures and mistakes made by those who are charged with keeping all of our residents safe.”
“These recommendations are fair, and hopefully they will aid in the effort to heal from this tragedy and ensure the department is better equipped moving forward,” Scott said.
Sworn officers have the ability to request a trial board to challenge their charges.
