Letter to the Honorable Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and the Honorable Catherine Pugh, Mayor-Elect of Baltimore, Maryland - Regarding the Status of A Consent Decree Between the Department of Justice and the City of Baltimore

Letter

Dear Attorney General Lynch, Mayor Rawlings-Blake, and Mayor-Elect Pugh,

We thank you for your ongoing commitment to ensuring that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the City of Baltimore work together to improve policing in our community through the DOJ's "pattern or practice" investigation. The findings released by the DOJ Civil Rights Division in its report this summer, as well as subsequent input from the Baltimore City community, have reaffirmed that the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) is in dire need of reform and that the relationship between the BPD and the community is in disrepair.

We understand that the City of Baltimore and the DOJ are negotiating a consent decree as the next step in the process of this investigation, and had been working toward a goal of November 1, 2016. However, that date passed almost three weeks ago, and a draft consent decree has still not yet been released.

We appreciate that it is no small task to ensure the decree fully addresses the DOJ recommendations and includes workable implementation steps. However, we are hearing growing concern from the community about the status of and delay in drafting the decree. We share those concerns. It is absolutely imperative that decisive, steady, urgent progress toward crafting a meaningful consent decree be made a top priority by all involved.

We are writing to request: (1) an update on the status of the consent decree; and (2) an updated timeline for its completion. We also write to strongly urge you to redouble your efforts to ensure that a meaningful decree is completed and approved as soon as possible. We appreciate the significant time and energy required to prepare for the transition of a mayoral administration, but it is absolutely necessary that the consent decree be a top priority for all at this crucial time. The safety of our community is at stake.

Thank you again for your devotion to the people of Baltimore. We are eagerly awaiting an update.

Sincerely,