BALTIMORE (AP) – Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is winning support from other public officials and praise from legal experts for asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate her police department for discriminatory patterns or practices.
After previously saying she was determined to fix the department’s problems herself, the Democratic mayor announced Wednesday that she has asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to order a civil-rights investigation.
“We have to have a foundation of trust,” Rawlings-Blake told a news conference. “I believe we need the assistance of the Department of Justice and the civil rights investigation to shore up that foundation that is weak right now in our city.”
The mayor’s announcement came a day after her closed-door meeting at City Hall with Lynch. Lynch is considering the request, Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said.
The broad investigation, if undertaken by the federal agency, could eventually force the city to make changes under the oversight of an outside monitor.