Baltimore's mayor promised an outside, independent review of the "friendly fire" shooting that claimed the life of a plainclothes city police officer as commanders ordered those who dress in civilian clothes to wear uniforms or jackets identifying them as law enforcement.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she is "very concerned by initial facts that indicate only police weapons were discharged" during the early Sunday melee outside the Select Lounge on North Paca Street.
In a statement, the mayor said the police investigation and the outside review of the incident, which left a police officer and an unarmed civilian dead and four people wounded, "will help us understand exactly what happened and help us learn from it and make sure that nothing like it happens again."
A spokesman for Rawlings-Blake said officials are checking with other Maryland law enforcement agencies as to their availability. The last outside review of city police was conducted in 2004, when the Howard County Police Department examined how city police handled a domestic violence complaint against then-Commissioner Kevin P. Clark.
The review of the weekend shooting will not supplant the investigation now under way by Baltimore homicide detectives or any action that city prosecutors might take, a police spokesman said. But it will serve as a check on the criminal inquiry and offer an independent critique of the Police Department's policies and practices.
Police supervisors said discussions on new rules governing plainclothes officers could include whether they should wear distinctive colors that change by the day or week, to make them quickly identifiable to fellow officers but not to the people they are trying to arrest, or use code words.
Police in New York City use what is called the "color of the day" to mark plainclothes officers, typically consisting of bandanas or headbands.
"We want to make sure that we're using plainclothes officers in the safest manner possible," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Baltimore Police Department's chief spokesman.
The requirement that plainclothes officers wear uniforms will remain in place while the department reviews the policy, Guglielmi said. Ultimately, he said, the requirement could be made permanent, modified or dropped.
The move comes as police commanders piece together the shooting using surveillance video from at least one of Baltimore's pole cameras, evidence found at the scene, and interviews with witnesses and participants during what has been described as a large and chaotic disturbance.
A department spokesman said the four veteran officers who opened fire, mistaking fellow Officer William H. Torbit Jr., 33, for a gunman, have not consented to interviews with homicide detectives. Officers involved in shootings cannot be compelled to give statements until after the criminal investigation has concluded.
Two of the officers met with an attorney from the Fraternal Order of Police union on Wednesday and the other two are expected to meet later this week. The union president, Robert F. Cherry, said their statements will be turned over to investigators.
"All four officers are cooperating," Cherry said.
The department has identified the officers as Harry Dodge, 37, an 11-year veteran of the department; Harry Pawley, 40, a 17-year veteran; Toyia Williams, 36, a 13-year veteran; and Latora Craig, 30, a nine-year veteran.
Police have said that Torbit, who was on duty, had responded to an officer-in-trouble call and was trying to break up a fight when he was attacked and shoved to the ground. He pulled out his weapon and shot at one of his assailants.
Almost simultaneously, four uniformed officers — all of whom work in Torbit's district and knew him, police say, even if they did not immediately recognize him — opened fire. A total of 41 bullets was fired by the five officers. Sean Gamble, the 22-year-old civilian, was mortally wounded — by Torbit's initial volley of at least eight shots, police believe.
Guglielmi said a surveillance video shows Torbit being violently attacked. He said the main instigator cannot be clearly identified as Gamble, though friends of Gamble who were present have confirmed that he got into an altercation with Torbit.
Detectives are trying to determine whether Torbit, an eight-year veteran of the force, was justified in opening fire on his attackers, and whether the other officers were justified in shooting at him in the middle of a large and volatile crowd. They also are examining dispatch records to see if anyone knew a plainclothes officer was responding to the call and if so, whether that information was relayed to officers on the street.
The shooting has stunned the 3,000-member department, whose members call this one of the most tragic events in memory.
Police commanders sent word of the new rules regarding officers wearing street clothes Tuesday night through district commanders. They are designed to straddle a thin line between helping officers recognize each other while preventing suspects from identifying them too quickly.
The rules do not apply to officers going undercover to infiltrate gangs or narcotics operations, or to detectives in the Criminal Investigation Division. The officers most affected are those in district flex units, the ones who spend their days confronting gunmen and drug dealers and need to get close enough to witness illegal activities.
Most plainclothes officers travel in unmarked cars — often rentals, so they can frequently switch makes, models and colors. But even dressed as civilians, they wear protective vests under their clothes, often creating a bulkier-than-normal appearance, and wear their badges on lanyards around their necks or attached to their belts.
The interim rules that took effect Wednesday require them to take additional steps. Guglielmi said plainclothes officers assigned to the nine district stations will have to wear uniforms. Officers assigned to the Violent Crime Impact Division, which answers to headquarters, can wear jackets or vests labeled "Police."
"It has to be something more than a badge hanging from a neck," the spokesman said.
The rules affect plainclothes officers, not undercover officers. When officers go undercover, Guglielmi said, an operational plan must be submitted to and approved by the chief of detectives and described to patrol officers who are working the area.
Police commanders also are reviewing whether officers who are not in uniform should respond to calls involving large crowds or disturbances.
Cherry said his labor organization supports the temporary changes, saying that they "enhance the safety of our members."
But he noted there still will be situations in which officers are in plainclothes and not wearing identifying clothing. Baltimore police are required to carry their weapons when off-duty and in the city, but most often are not wearing police insignia.
While city officers are forbidden from working private security at bars or clubs, officers from other law enforcement agencies — such as the city sheriff's office, correctional institutions and the Prince George's County Police Department — do pick up such shifts and wear street clothes.
Few, if any, would be immediately recognized by city police officers, especially during tense situations in which guns are drawn.
Torbit was in plainclothes and driving an unmarked car Sunday. He was alone because his partner had made an arrest and was booking the prisoner at the city lockup.
When the officer-in-distress call screeched over the radio — called a Signal 13 — Torbit raced to the trouble.
Police said his badge was secured around his neck with a heavy chain, but might have come off during the fracas.
As the situation intensified, with a large crowd fighting and the officers who had been first on the scene overwhelmed, officers from three districts sped to the 400 block of N. Paca St., some from two or more miles away.
Plainclothes officers heading to such scenes will sometimes tell the dispatcher, and through the dispatcher, other officers, what they are wearing so they don't get mistaken for criminals. It is unclear whether Torbit attempted that in this case.
Such efforts can go for nought in the hectic moments of a Signal 13. Officers are driving hard into a potentially volatile situation. They try to keep off the radio so they don't block the distressed officer from providing updates.
Current and former officers interviewed said that limits or bans on officers from responding to alerts of police in trouble would be difficult or impossible to enforce.
"A Signal 13, everybody goes," said Gary McLhinney, a former narcotics detective in Baltimore who also served as the police union president and as chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.
"Everybody is going to Monday morning quarterback," McLhinney said. "They have to, so they see if there's something they can do to prevent it from happing again. But it's not TV. It's one of the most dangerous cities in the country. It's hard to accept that bad things happen."
McLhinney said it's difficult to put theory into practice while making split-second decisions as guns are being waved around.
"Let's deal in reality," he said. "You're a police officer. One of your buddies is calling for help. You're close. You go. You don't ignore a call for help. That's not in us."