BALTIMORE (AP) – Seven officers assigned to a gun tracing task force stole money from victims they falsely detained, wrote fake police reports, lied to investigators and filed for overtime they didn’t work, according to a damning federal indictment that comes as the troubled Baltimore Police Department struggles with reforms.
Federal prosecutors announced the indictment Wednesday in the city, where the police department entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department in the final days of the Obama administration, promising to stop abusive tactics and discriminatory practices that included unlawful stops of drivers and pedestrians.
The officers were assigned to the Gun Trace Task Force, a squad formed to reduce violent crime by tracking and removing illegal guns from the streets.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said the investigation began about a year ago, and that as a result, his office “quietly dropped” five federal cases brought by one or more of the officers. Rosenstein said Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby wasn’t notified about the investigation until charges were filed. He expects her office to review its cases involving the officers, as well.
Rosenstein called the officers’ conduct “a pernicious conspiracy scheme that included abuse of power.”