Two lawmakers pressing for state legislation to crack down on police misconduct called Wednesday for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to inform the city spending board when officers repeatedly face brutality allegations in lawsuits.
"The more the people know about these, the better off we are. It might mitigate some of the problems," said Del. Curt Anderson, who chairs Baltimore's House delegation and is sponsoring police-related legislation suggested by the mayor.
Del. Jill P. Carter agreed. "One of the problems is that people never know the gravity of the situation. I think this deserves more transparency."
The Baltimore Democrats' statements came after The Baltimore Sun detailed a city proposal to settle a lawsuit alleging misconduct by Detective Calvin Moss. In asking the Board of Estimates to approve the $150,000 settlement, city lawyers did not tell board members that taxpayers had already paid $100,000 to settle a previous lawsuit alleging misconduct by Moss.
In such settlements, the officer and city do not acknowledge any wrongdoing.
Rawlings-Blake vowed to provide more details about settlements after a Sun investigation found that taxpayers had paid nearly $6 million since 2011 in lawsuits alleging misconduct by officers — including some who had been sued multiple times. The investigation also showed that city officials lacked a comprehensive system to track such misconduct.
The Baltimore Police Department is now the focus of a collaborative review overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice to curb misconduct and improve policies. In recent months, ministers, activists and other elected officials have called on the police and mayor to disclose more details about police misconduct.
City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young and Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, who sit on the five-member spending board, learned about the $100,000 payout after The Sun asked about the omission in the summary sent to the board. The administration said Tuesday that city lawyers only present facts about a current settlement because older payouts or allegations could prejudice the spending panel.
Kevin Harris, Rawlings-Blake's spokesman, said the administration will disclose the information when officials request it.
"Judging from the fact [Pratt and Young] can't list one specific instance of information they actually requested that was denied by the administration, I'd say our record is strong," Harris said late Wednesday. "There are no psychics currently employed at City Hall. We can't be held responsible for providing what they fail to request in the first place."
Speaking to reporters at City Hall, Rawlings-Blake called the issue "a made-up controversy" and said it was a "tabloidish stretch of the facts" to suggest her administration withheld information.
"Right now, it seems like a distraction from the real work that's going on to improve police-community relationships," she said.
Hours later, while speaking to Sun columnist Dan Rodricks, the host of "Midday" on WYPR-FM, she said details about prior payouts involving an officer are available if requested. She reiterated that neither Pratt nor Young sought the information.
"I can't tell them what questions to ask," she said.
The $150,000 payout settles a lawsuit filed by Marque Marshall, a Baltimore man who had two fingers reattached after Moss shot him in the Belair-Edison neighborhood.
In January 2013, according to court records, Marshall jumped from a car near Belair Road and fled from Moss and his partner. At one point, Marshall "squared himself up" to fire a gun at the officers. Having seen a handgun in Marshall's hands, Moss fired and hit Marshall's left hand, records say. But no handgun was found at the scene.
Marshall faced several charges, but prosecutors dismissed them.
Documents sent this week to Board of Estimates members didn't mention that Moss has faced other lawsuits alleging misconduct. In 2012, for example, the city paid a $100,000 settlement to a cafeteria worker who alleged that Moss wrongfully arrested her while she was delivering church raffle tickets.
Juries ruled in favor of Moss in two other lawsuits.
In response to community anger in recent months, the mayor has proposed three state legislative measures to crack down on police misconduct. One would create a new felony charge for officers accused of assaults that are now considered misdemeanors.
Another measure would allow police leaders across the state to quickly discipline an officer who avoids conviction in court through a probation before judgment ruling in a felony or serious misdemeanor case. The third would empower a Civilian Review Board to hear a wider variety of complaints against officers.
Both Carter and Anderson said disclosing prior payouts related to an officer would not prejudice the city spending board.
"This is not a court of law," Carter said, referring to the Board of Estimates. "This is the people's money being spent."
Harris said city lawyers believe the best practice is to provide only facts related to a current settlement, not older allegations or payouts.
Although the city has paid court judgments or settlements in more than 100 misconduct lawsuits since 2011, Carter said only a few officers have more than one lawsuit. The community's distrust of police will continue to grow if only a few officials know about the multiple payouts, Carter added.
"Part of the issue to change is to be as transparent as possible," she said.
Speaking to reporters at City Hall, Young said he and Pratt shouldn't have to seek information from city lawyers. "They should disclose it to me anyway."
"The public has more information than they ever had," Rawlings-Blake told "Midday" listeners.
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