BALTIMOREPOLICEDEPARTMENT

OFFICE OF THE POLICE COMMISSIONER

MEDIA RELATIONS SECTION

Police Commissioner Invites Outside Review

Baltimore, Md., July 7, 2015 This afternoon the Baltimore Police Department is
announcing an outside, independent review of the organizations handling of the civil
unrest that took place in Baltimore during April and May of 2015. This review, which has
been in the planning phases for several weeks, comes at the request of Police
Commissioner Anthony W. Batts. The Police Commissioner has asked the Police
Executive Research Forum (PERF) to conduct the review. The process begins tomorrow
with a roundtable discussion involving law enforcement agencies from across the region
who assisted during the unrest. Their input, as well as the contributions of BPD members,
will be the beginning process of the independent evaluation. PERF will conduct the review
to assess what went right and what needs to improve with how the Baltimore Police
Department responded to the civil unrest. An independent, outside analysis of the events
that transpired, conducted by nationally recognized experts in policing, will help the
department be better able to serve the people of Baltimore. This request comes as the
organization completes its own internal review of the incident, which will be turned over to
the Police Executive Research Forum.
Consistent with previous reviews the Police Commissioner has ordered, this will be the 6th
time the agency has undergone outside review. These reviews are used to incorporated
national best practices into the daily operations of the Baltimore Police Department.
More information about the Police Executive Research Forum can be found at
www.policeforum.org
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