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inside

MARYLAND

ARREST IN STABBING: Baltimore police havearrested Nicholas Brandon Heath, 32, of the2500 block of Windsor Road in Parkville andcharged him with first-degree murder in thefatal stabbing of Ottobar employee TomMalen-ski, 35, early Friday at the Remington concertvenue. NEWS PG 2

NATION/WORLD

FOLLOW THE MONEY: The Islamic Statefunds itself with robberies, extortion, seizure ofassets, ransoms and oil smuggling. The U.S.Treasury Department has assigned a team totrack down foreign donors, crack down onsmuggling, and identify facilitatorswhohelp thegroup transfer or hide itswealth. NEWS PG 21

SUMMARY OF THE NEWSTODAY’S WEATHER

SUNNY

80HIGH

59LOW

Partly sunny on Monday SPORTS PG 11

The city has paid about $5.7 million since 2011 over lawsuits

claiming that police officers brazenly beat up alleged suspects. One

hidden cost: The perception that officers are violent can poison the

relationship between residents and police.

SUN INVESTIGATES

Undue force

O na cold January afternoon,Jerriel Lyles parked his carin front of the P&J CarryOut on East MonumentStreet and darted inside to

buy some food. After paying for a box ofchicken, he noticed a big guy in jeans, ahooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap.

“What’sup?” themansaid toLyles.Others,alsodressed in jeansandhoodies,blockedthedoor to the street—makingLyles fear that hewould be robbed. Instead, theman identifiedhimself as a police officer, frisked Lyles anddemanded that he sit on the greasy floor.Lyles objected.

“The officer hit me so hard it felt like hisradio was in his hand,” Lyles testified aboutthe 2009 incident, after suing DetectiveDavid Greene. “The blow was so heavy. Myeyes swelled up. Blood was dripping downmynose and outmy eye.”

TheBaltimoredetectiveofferedadifferentversion of events in court, saying that Lyles’injuries might have resulted from pokinghimself in the face. He also couldn’t say whyofficers stopped Lyles, who was not chargedwith any crime.

But jurors didn’t buy the officer’s explana-tion. They ruled in Lyles’ favor, and the courtultimately ordered the city to pay him$200,000, the statutory limit inMaryland formost lawsuits against amunicipality.

ThebeatingLyles received fromBaltimorepolice officers — along with the resultingpayout from city funds — is part of adisturbing pattern, a six-month investigationbyTheBaltimore Sunhas found.

Over the past four years, more than 100people have won court judgments or settle-ments related to allegations of brutality andcivil rights violations. Victims include a

TheseriesFirst in a seriesof occasionalarticles onalleged policebrutality casesagainst theBaltimoreCity PoliceDepartment.

InsideSummary ofthe largestsettlementpayoutsNEWS PG 23

ByMark Puente | The Baltimore Sun

SALAHUDEENABDUL-AZIZwas awarded $170,000

by a jury in 2011

BARBARA FLOYD receiveda $30,000 settlement in 2011

ALVIN CUFFEEreceived a $40,000settlement in 2011

JOHN BONKOWSKI received a$75,000 settlement in 2014

ASHLEYOVERBEY, along withJenean Kelly, received a $63,000settlement earlier this month

ANTHONYKEYES receiveda $50,000 settlement in 2013

See POLICE, page 22

WASHINGTON— In the rare momentswhen he speaks candidly about running forpresident, Gov. Martin O’Malley usesphrasessuchas“fundamentallynewer”and“new way of leadership” to describe hisapproach— language intended to highlightthe data-driven management style forwhich he iswidely recognized.

But it isn’t hard to read another, moresubtle message between the lines: Theyoung, guitar-slinging governor representsa more youthful crop of Democrats, whilethe presumed front-runner for the nomina-tion in 2016, Hillary Clinton,might struggleto do so.

As he winds down his final months inAnnapolis and crisscrosses the country inanticipation of a full-scale national cam-paign, O’Malley has delicately tried to drawcontrasts with the former first lady, senatorand secretary of state without appearingconfrontational—or even using her name.

Observers say the soft touch reflects thetreacherous pathO’Malleymust tread as hetries to set himself apart from a longtimeally. O’Malley backed Clinton in the 2008

O’Malleyedges awayfrom allyClintonGovernor tries to stand outfrom the Democraticfront-runner on policy, style

By John FritzeThe Baltimore Sun

See O’MALLEY, page 7

While Baltimore County officials weredecidingwhetherMichaelWilliamswas fitto continue teaching, he was assigned to adusty, windowless room at a PulaskiHighway warehouse that held old text-books, surpluscomputersandothermateri-als.He, alongwith adozenor so employees,sat at a long table reading detective novelsand playingTrivial Pursuit.

Sometimes they would fall asleep untilsupervisors, watching from a securitycamera, came in towake themup.

Williams, who had been accused oftouching a girl on the cheek with ayardstick, was paid his full salary plusbenefits for more than a year to show up atthewarehousewhen school was in session.At his school, Woodlawn Middle, a sub-stitutewas hired to teach his class.

“The county doesn’t move on anythingquickly. They let people sit there and rot,”said Williams, who denies having touchedthe girl. He made $67,000 a year as ateacher.

Every year, hundreds of school system

As misconductcases drag on,teachers justwait, with payAccusations remove stafffrom schools, cost taxpayersBy Liz BowieThe Baltimore Sun

See TEACHERS, page 7

SUN INVESTIGATES

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15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-oldpregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grand-son.

Those cases detail a frightful human toll. Officershave battered dozens of residentswho suffered brokenbones — jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles — head trauma,organ failure, and even death, coming during question-able arrests. Some residents were beaten whilehandcuffed; otherswere thrown to the pavement.

And in almost every case, prosecutors or judgesdismissed the charges against the victims — if chargeswere filed at all. In an incident that drew headlinesrecently, charges against a South Baltimore man weredropped after a video showed an officer repeatedlypunching him — a beating that led the policecommissioner to say hewas “shocked.”

Such beatings, in which the victimsaremost often African-Americans, carrya hefty cost. They can poison relation-ships between police and the communi-ty, limiting cooperation in the fightagainst crime, the mayor and policeofficials say. They also divert money inthe city budget — the $5.7 million intaxpayer funds paid out since January2011 would cover the price of a state-of-the-art rec center or renovations atmorethan 30 playgrounds. And that doesn’tcount the $5.8 million spent by the cityon legal fees to defend these claimsbrought against police.

“These officers taint the whole de-partment when they create these kindsof issues for the city,” said City CouncilPresident Bernard C. “Jack” Young. “I’mtired of the lawsuits that cost the citymillions of dollars by some of thesepolice officers.”

City policies help to shield the scopeand impact of beatings from the public,eventhoughMayorStephanieRawlings-Blake acknowledges that policebrutalitywas one of the main issues broached by residents innine recent forums across Baltimore.

The city’s settlement agreements contain a clausethatprohibits injuredresidents frommakinganypublicstatement — or talking to the news media — about theincidents. And when settlements are placed on theagenda at public meetings involving the mayor andother top officials, the cases are described usingexcerpts from police reports, with allegations ofbrutality routinely omitted. State law also helps toshield the details, by barring city officials fromdiscussing internal disciplinary actions against theofficers— evenwhen a court has found themat fault.

The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, a local pastor whohas railedagainstpolicebrutality,was surprised tohearthat the city has spent millions to settle policemisconduct allegations.

“I am absolutely stunned,” said Bryant, who leads aNorthwest Baltimore mega-church. “I had no idea itwas this bad. I had no idea we had this volume in thiscity.”

Among the findings of The Sun’s investigation,which included a review of thousands of court recordsand interviews with victims, along with audio andvideo recordings of trials:

Since 2011, the city has been involved in 102 courtjudgmentsandsettlementsrelatedtoallegationsofcivilrightsandconstitutionalviolationssuchasassault, falsearrest and false imprisonment, making payouts thatranged up to $500,000. (The statutory cap can beexceeded when there are multiple claims in a lawsuit,and if there ismalice thecapmaynotapply.) In43of thelawsuits, taxpayers paid $30,000 or more. In suchsettlements, the city and the officers involved do notacknowledge anywrongdoing.■ Many of the lawsuits stemmed from the now-disbanded Violent Crimes Impact Section, which usedplainclothes officers to target high-crime areas. Offi-cers frequently wrote in charging documents that theyfeared for their safety and that residents received theinjurieswhen resisting arrest.■ Departmentofficials said someofficerswereexoner-ated in internal force investigations, even though jurorsand the city awarded thousands of dollars to battered

residents in those incidents.■ For years, leaders in Baltimore’s Police Department,the nation’s eighth-largest, didn’t track or monitor thenumberof lawsuits filedagainsteachofficer.Asaresult,city officials were unaware that some officers were thetarget of asmany as five lawsuits.

The Sun’s findings include only lawsuits that havebeen settledordecided incourt; dozensof similar casesare still pending. The city has faced 317 lawsuits overpolice conduct since 2011 — and recently budgeted anadditional $4.2 million for legal fees, judgments andlawsuits, a $2.5million increase from fiscal 2014.

“This isnotsomethingI take lightly,”Rawlings-Blakesaid. “I’ve worked hard, very hard, to have a dialoguewith the community about how do we build trust andsend the message that law enforcement that actsoutside of the lawwill not be tolerated.”

Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, who tookover in late 2012, has publicly vowed to eliminatemisconduct among the city’s 2,800 officers. Other

police officials say the department has begun to tracksuch allegations more closely to punish officers in thewrong.

“I can’t speak to what was done before, but I cancertainly tell you that’s what’s being done now, andwewon’t deviate from that,” said Deputy CommissionerJerryRodriguez,whojoinedtheagency inJanuary2013to lead the new Professional Standards and Account-ability Bureau.

Rodriguez, who once worked in Internal Affairs attheLosAngelesPoliceDepartment, said themandate isto provide policing in a professional manner thatdoesn’t violate constitutional rights.

“We will not let officers get away with anywrongdoing,” Rodriguez said. “Itwill not be tolerated.”

The department would not allow The Sun tointerview officers named in the lawsuits, saying thatwould violate department policy. Annual base salariesfor the officers ranged from$61,000 and $67,000.

ButRobertF.Cherry, presidentof thecity’sFraternalOrder of Police lodge, cautioned that some people filefrivolous lawsuits againstofficerswhowork tokeep thecity safe.

“Our officers are not brutal,” he said. “The trialattorneys and criminal elements want to take ad-vantage of the courts.”

ThegrandmotherEighty-seven-year-old Venus Green heard the

scream while rocking on her porch on Poplar GroveStreet inWest Baltimore’sWalbrook neighborhood.

“Grandma, call the ambulance. I been shot,” shethought sheheardher grandson say on thatmorning inJuly 2007. As he lumbered closer, she spotted bloodfromawound in his leg and called 911.

The retired teacher was used to helping others.Green had moved to Baltimore decades earlier fromSouth Carolina after working at R.J. Reynolds andWestinghouse. Once here, she worked at Fort Meadeand earned twodegrees at Coppin StateUniversity.

The mother of two and grandmother of sevendedicated her career to teaching special-educationstudents, but couldn’t sit still in her retirement years.

Shehad twohobbies: going to churchand raising fosterkids. Dozens of children funneled through her home.They, likeher owngrandchildren, calledher “GrandmaGreen.”

Paramedics and police responded to the emergencycall, but thewhite officer becamehostile.

“What happened? Who shot you?” Green recalledthe officer saying to her grandson, according to an11-page letter in which she detailed the incident for herlawyer. Excerpts from the letter were included in herlawsuit. “You’re lying. You know you were shot insidethat house. We ain’t going to help you because you arelying.”

“Mister, he isn’t lying,” replied Green, who had nocriminal record. “He came from down that wayrunning, callingme to call the ambulance.”

The officer, who is not identified in the lawsuit,wanted to go into thebasement, butGreendemandedawarrant. Her grandson kept two dogs downstairs andshe feared theywould attack.Theofficerunhooked the

lock, butGreen latched it.He shovedGreenagainst thewall. She

hit thewooden floor.“Bitch, you ain’t no better than any of

the other old black bitches I have lockedup,” Green recalled the officer saying ashe stood over her. “He pulled me up,pushed me in the dining room over thecouch, put his knees inmy back, twistedmy arms andwrist and put handcuffs onmy hands and threw me face down onthe couch.”

After pulling Green to her feet, theofficer told her she was under arrest.Green complained of pain.

“My neck and shoulder are hurting,”Green told him. “Please take thesehandcuffs off.”

An African-American officer thenwalked into the house, saw her sobbingandaskedthat thehandcuffsberemovedsinceGreenwasn’t violent.

The cuffs came off, and Green didn’tface any charges. But a broken shouldertormented her formonths.

“I am here because of injuries re-ceived to my body by a police officer,” Green wrote onstationery stampedwith “wish on a star” at the bottomof each page. “I am suffering with pain and at night Ican hardly sleep since this incident occurred.”

In June 2010, she sued the officers; an April 2012settlement required the city to pay her $95,000.

Green died sixweeks later of natural causes

ThepregnantwomanMany Baltimoreans who reached similar settle-

ments declined to be interviewed about the allegedpolicemisconduct—with good reason.

Aclause in thecity’s agreementsprohibits anypublicstatement about the incident that triggered the lawsuit.Limitations on “public statements shall include aprohibition indiscussing any facts or allegations…withthe news media” except to say the lawsuit has beensettled, it states.

Thepenalty for talking?City lawyers could sue togetback asmuch as half ormore of the settlement.

That amount is negotiated in each case, dependingon the severity of the allegations, said David Ralph,deputy city solicitor. The amount of money involved isshielded from the public because the clause mightnever be triggered, he said, adding that in “99.9 percentof the cases it’s never an issue.”

Such “non-disparagement” clauses are common inlegal settlements, he noted. “We don’t want to paytaxpayers’ money and then have people saying thingsthat they couldn’t say in court. Some facts are hotlydisputed.”

Insuchsettlements, thecityandtheofficers involveddo not acknowledge anywrongdoing.

StarrBrown, anEastBaltimorewomanwhoreacheda settlement agreement,wanted to talk abouther arrest— an encounter with police that left the pregnantaccountant facedown, bleeding and bruised, on thesidewalk. (Her babywas unhurt.)

But Brown, aMorgan StateUniversity graduate, saidthe clause prevented her from sharing details, so theevents of Sept. 18, 2009, can only be reconstructed fromcourt transcripts.

Returning homewith her young daughter as the sun

In 2007, 87-year-old Venus Green accused a police officer of throwing her to the ground at her West Baltimore home, shown above, and breaking her shoulder. She sued andreached a $95,000 settlement in 2012.

ALGERINA PERNA/BALTIMORE SUN

Suits against police cost millionsPOLICE, From page 1

22 THE BALTIMORE SUN | NEWS | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 SUN INVESTIGATES

“I amhere because of injuriesreceived tomy body by a police officer.I am sufferingwith pain and at night

I can hardly sleep since thisincident occurred.”

Eighty-seven-year-oldVenusGreen,writingof a July 2007encounterwithpolice forwhich she received a$95,000

settlement fromthe city

Christensen Threatt

Lessthan$30k

6050403020100

63

10 136 10

$30kto

$50k

$50kto

$100k

$100kto

$200k

$200kandup

Aubrey Knox and Lena Knox reached a$500,000 settlement in 2012 afterofficers arrested them on charges ofkidnapping their grandson in 2007.Aubrey Knox suffered serious injurieswhile beaten in jail.

The estate of Edward Lamont Huntwon a $375,000 settlement after anofficer fatally shot Hunt during a stop in2008. A jury acquitted the officer ofinvoluntary manslaughter in June 2010.

Jamal Butler told a jury that an officercalled him “a black smart ass” andarrested him in 2010. The officer deniedthat and said Butler refused to leave adowntown street. The jury awardedButler $272,790; it is under appeal.

Christopher Sharp and the AmericanCivil Liberties Union won $250,000 in asettlement after Sharp said officersdeleted images from his phone showingthem beating a woman in 2010.

Arthur Phillips, a Baltimore Citysheriff’s deputy, said an officerwrongfully arrested him during adomestic incident in 2008. A juryawarded him $600,000, but a judgereduced it to $236,392.

Dondi Johnson’s family won a $219,057jury verdict after Johnson died of injuriessustained while riding unrestrained in apolice van in 2010.

Jerriel Lyles won a court judgment for$200,000 and a settlement for $24,000for two separate incidents. He won thejudgment after testifying that an officersmashed his face with a police radio in2009. Three weeks after the incident, hesaid two other officers made him drophis pants and underwear as onesearched him for drugs.

The estate of Tyrone Brown reached a$200,000 settlement after Brown wasfatally shot by an off-duty officer in2008 outside a nightclub. The officer isserving a 15-year prison term formanslaughter.

Jacqueline Allen won a $200,000settlement after being shot in thestomach by an officer at the Cherry Hilllight-rail stop in 2008. Allen lost her rightkidney and part of her liver.

Daudi Collier said one officer smashedhis face with a police radio and anotherpunched him in the eye in 2008. A juryawarded him $175,000.

Salahudeen Abdul-Aziz testified thattwo officers handcuffed him, threw himon the ground and beat him in 2009. Hesuffered a broken nose and severeswelling around his eye. A jury awardedhim $170,000.

Wesley Williams and ShaneyPendelton said plainclothes officerspunched, kicked and choked them in2008 in front of their kids. They reacheda $155,000 settlement.

Darren Brown reached a $150,000settlement after being wrongfullyaccused of attempted murder in 2008.The then-17-year-old spent six months injail.

Starr Brown won a $125,000settlement after testifying that twoofficers threw her to the ground andbeat her in 2009. The accountant andthen-pregnant woman had called policeto report an assault.

Latasha Calvert and Brittney Jonesreached a $110,000 settlement after a2006 traffic stop. Calvert said shesuffered a fractured elbow and tornligaments in her knee. Jones fracturedher finger. Calvert was found guilty ofresisting arrest and received probationbefore judgment.

Jennelle Causey and Shakita Causeysaid a sergeant performed an illegal stripsearch, hit them and planted drugs onthem in 2008. A jury awarded them$105,000.

Lillian Parker, a school cafeteria worker,reached a $100,000 settlement forspending two days in jail after beingarrested in a drug raid in 2007. She waswalking down the street at the time.

Lornell Felder said officers beat his faceand body when he ran from them in2009. The officers mistakenly thoughthe was rolling a marijuana joint. CitySolicitor George Nilson described Felderas a “citizen with a totally clean recordover many years, a church deacon and apillar of his community.” He won a$100,000 settlement.

Venus Green said an officer threw her tothe ground, breaking her shoulder in2009. Green, 87, had called police toreport that her grandson had been shot.The city paid her $95,000.

Donte Harris said an officer patted himdown, unzipped his pants and fondledhis genitals during a loitering stop in2009. The city paid him $95,000.

Ira Todd won a $90,000 settlementafter he said an officer kicked andstomped him, breaking his wrist in a2009 arrest.

John Bonkowski said officers broke hisankle and jaw after he drove through agate at a parking garage in 2012. Hesettled the case for $75,000 and

pleaded guilty to driving whileintoxicated.

David Harris said officers falselyarrested him in 2009 after a robberyvictim identified another man as asuspect. The city paid him $75,000.

Antwan Bryant said an officer broke hisleg by driving over him with a car in2008; a jury awarded Bryant’s estate$75,000. He died in an unrelatedincident.

Milton McLean and Tyrode Gibbs Sr.said officers kicked and stomped themin 2009 as Gibbs held his 2-year-old son.Gibbs suffered fractured ribs and thechild suffered facial cuts. The city paidthem $70,000.

Terrell Perkins said officers beat himwhile he was being questioned about arobbery where he worked in 2007. Thecity paid him $67,500.

Ashley Overbey and Jenean Kellyreached a $63,000 settlement thismonth. Overbey said officers pinned herdown and repeatedly hit her in the face

after she reported a robbery in herapartment in 2012. Kelly said an officergrabbed her head and banged it into apolice van.

James Clay, a well-known barber, saidofficers broke his arm in a traffic stop in2009. The city paid him $63,000.

Bolaji Obe and Akinola Adesanya saidan officer pulled a knife on them andthreatened to stab them in a parkinggarage in 2012. Obe also said the officerpunched him in the face while his handswere cuffed behind his back. Theysettled the case for $62,000 in July.

Jonathan Hunt said officers broke hisleg and collarbone and cracked threeribs in a 2009 traffic stop. The city paidhim $60,000. He pleaded guilty tofleeing and eluding police.

Alberto Mojica said officers beat him in2008 after an off-duty officer shot andkilled a fellow officer outside a nightclub.He settled the case for $50,000.

Anthony Keyes said officers beat himwhen he entered a home to sell a car in2011. He won a $50,000 settlement.

Ericka Ury, the mother ofthen-15-year-old Jyrel Washington, saidplainclothes officers broke her son’snose in 2009. Ury settled for $49,500.

Charles Faulkner accused an officer ofpunching him in the face and breakinghis jaw with a police radio in 2010. Hesettled the case recently for $49,000.

Brian Holmes and Frank Snell II, aRandallstown dentist, said officers beatthem during a late-night stop on EastBaltimore Street in 2009. The citysettled the case for $47,500.

Rodney Hueston won a $45,000settlement after he said two officersbroke his arm in a downtown restaurantin 2009.

Deon Johnson said an officer drove intohim while he was sitting on a dirt bike in2009. The city paid him $42,500.

Alex Dickson said a beating by officersleft him with a broken nose, fracturedribs, bruised kidneys and other injurieswhen they served a protective order in2010. He spent four weeks in thehospital. The city paid him $40,000.

Alvin Cuffee said an officer choked himwith a nightstick as others beat him inthe head outside a nightclub in 2009.The city paid him $40,000.

Joseph Forrest reached a $35,000settlement after being jailed without bailfor six months. He was accused of tryingto disarm an officer during a dispute inwhich a relative was fatally shot bypolice in 2009.

Michael Wright said an officer pulledhim from a car, stomped his head andbroke his wrist in 2009. He settled for$30,000.

Christensen Threatt said officersstomped and kicked him during adomestic incident in 2009. The city paidhim $30,000.

Barbara Floyd won a $30,000settlement after saying a detectivethrew her to the street and ground herface into the concrete in 2009.

Sources: Charging documents, courtrecords, interviews and Sun archives

$5.7 million in settlements and judgments paidBaltimore has paid $5.7million since January 2011 for settlements and court judgments in lawsuits accusing city police officers of false arrests, false imprisonment and excessiveforce. Virtually all of the peoplewhowon large awardswere cleared of criminal charges. In the settlements, the city and officers did not acknowledge anywrongdoing.Here aresummaries of the largest payouts:

Aubrey Knox

Daudi Collier

Latasha Calvert

Donte Harris

Lena Knox

Wesley Williams

Jennelle Causey

David Harris

Jacqueline Allen

Starr Brown

Lillian Parker

Jerriel Lyles

Shaney Pendelton

Shakita Causey

Tyrode Gibbs Sr.

23SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 | NEWS | THE BALTIMORE SUNSUN INVESTIGATES

criminal record, testified. “He’s like, ‘You’re gettingarrested. You’re comingwithme.’ ”

“Theyslammedmedownonmyface,”Brownadded,her voice cracking. “The skinwas gone onmy face. ...

“I was tossed like a rag doll. He had his knee on myback and neck. She had her knee on my back trying toput handcuffs onme.”

The officers arrested her for obstruction, disorderlyconduct, resisting arrest and assault. She fought thecharges inDistrict Court inMarch 2010.

The officers minimized the incident and Brown’sinjuries, telling the judge that her screams drew acrowd and she refused to go back into her house.Crisafulli said Brown hit the ground after letting go ofthe railing.

“It was like a sling shot,” Crisafulli testified. “Theresistance stopped.We all fell off the porch.”

Brown then kicked and flailed, Crisafulli added,noting that bystanders told the officers that Brownwaspregnant. Crisafulli said Brown scratched her with

set, Brown was on the front steps of her brick housewhen she spotted two girls walking along NorthLuzerneAvenue.

Suddenly, a group of about 20 girls came from theother direction and attacked the two girls.

Brown, who went into her house to avoid thefighting,watched the beating through awindow.Otherneighbors called 911, but by the time officers KarenCrisafulli and Andrew Galletti arrived, the attackershad fled.

Brown, who was then 26, could hear the officersyelling at the victims and came outside to urge theofficers to chase the girls who had fled. An argumentstarted, and Galletti lunged at her, she later testified incourt.

Shegrabbed the ironrailing,butGallettiwrappedhisarm around her neck. She said she screamed that shewas pregnant, but Galletti responded, “[We] hear it allthe time.”

“He comes and grabsmy arms,” Brown, who had no

fingernails;Galletti saidBrownbithis armandknuckle.But the testimony of two witnesses confirmed

Brown’s version of events.“Mrs. Brown was standing up in her doorway,” said

neighborRubyLee. “They threwher to theground, and[Galletti] put his knee in her back.”

The judge acquitted Brown of all criminal charges.She sued in April 2010 and settled the case in March2011 for $125,000.

ViolentCrimes ImpactScandals have plagued Baltimore’s Police Depart-

ment in recent years. Sixteenofficerswere convicted inakickbackschemewithatowingcompany,andanotherwas convicted of selling heroin from the NorthwestDistrict police station’s parking lot.

WhenRawlings-BlakehiredBatts in 2012, themayortalked about Baltimore becoming “the safest big city inAmerica.” Batts earned a reputation of building

Jenean Kelly Bolaji Obe Charles Faulkner Rodney Hueston

Joseph ForrestAlex Dickson

Terrell Perkins

43renovatedplaygrounds

124new policeofficers

72resurfaced

basketball courts

Better uses for taxpayer fundsSince 2011, BaltimoreCity has paid $5,765,065 in settlements and court judg-ments for cases alleging policemisconduct.Here’swhat that could buy:

Payout breakdownPayouts from settlements and courtjudgments since 2011:

These bookingphotos and thoseon the front pagefrom the BaltimorePolice Department

Jurors awarded Lyles $500,000 for the incident atthe carryout, but the judge reduced it to $200,000 tocomply with a state law that caps damages in suitsagainstmunicipalities.

The city also paid Lyles $24,000 to settle a separatelawsuit related to the street search.

Today, Lyles, who served probation for credit cardtheft in1999, is reluctant to talk about the civil trial.

“I’m afraid of the police,” he said. “I want to speakout, but it could be dangerous. These people aredangerous. Internal Affairs is not like they say they are.I complained. They said itwas unsustained.”

Rodney Hill, who took over the Internal AffairsDivision in May 2013, confirmed that Lyles’ complaintwas not sustained — meaning investigators could not

prove it was true. Police said Southard left the force inMay 2012, but would not say whether it was related toLyles’ case, noting that state law prohibits thedisclosure of personnel matters. Police would not saywhether the other officerswere disciplined.

‘Wehave to fire them’Civil rights abuses can tarnish a police department’s

image in any city, experts say. Strained relationshipsmake itdifficult forofficers togain trustonthestreets—from getting tips to solving crimes towinning taxpayersupport to hiremore officers.

“All of those things areput in jeopardy,” saidDavidA.

community engagement during his 30 years of leadingdepartments on theWestCoast.

But ridding theBaltimoreagencyofmisconductmaynot be easy. The agency’s strategic plan, released latelast year, said discipline “has not always been a priorityfor the Baltimore Police Department,” and it has beencommon “for cases in this department to take as manyas three years to resolve.” A more recent consultant’sreport on the Internal Affairs Division said detectiveslack training and often take shortcuts when in-vestigating officers suspected ofmisconduct.

Many complaints have focused on the ViolentCrimes Impact Section, which had more than 260officers in 2012. CityCouncilmembers and communityactivists said those officers used heavy-handed tacticsandhadno accountability.

In addition to the allegations of excessive force,officers in theunitwereaccusedbyprosecutorsof lyingon a search warrant and working to protect a drugdealer in order to make arrests. One received sixmonthsofhomedetention; theotherwent toprison foreight years for protecting the drug dealer.

Three other members were charged in 2010 withkidnapping two city teens and leaving one in aHowardCounty state park without shoes, socks or hiscellphone. A jury acquitted two officers of assault,kidnapping and false imprisonment but convictedthemofmisconduct.

In September 2012, the unit sparked outragewhen adetective threw Anthony Anderson, 46, to the groundduring a drug arrest. Anderson’s spleen ruptured, andhe died a short time later.

The state medical examiner’s office said the deathwas a homicide caused by blunt force trauma. ButBaltimore State’s AttorneyGregg Bernstein declined tobring charges, ruling that the officers did not useexcessive force and followed police guidelines. Thefamily filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that threedetectives kicked Anderson for several minutes; thecase is ongoing.

Batts disbanded the Violent Crimes Impact Sectionin December 2012 in response to complaints andcreated the Special Enforcement Section to addressspikes in seriouscrimes.Theunithasabout130officers.

The name change brought a new direction, Rodri-guez said. New leaders have been appointed andofficers are wearing uniforms that iden-tify themas police.

“It’s not just aphilosophical andnamechange,”hesaid. “What is acceptablehaschanged.”

Still,misconduct persists.This year, other officers have been

accused of killing a dogwhile off-duty inFebruary and of an attempted homicidein April. An officer went to jail in Aprilfor 45 days for beating a drug suspectwho had broken into the officer’sgirlfriend’s home. Another officer wasarrested in June and charged withslitting a Shar-Pei’s throatwhile on duty;he has pleaded not guilty.

After the carryoutThe Violent Crimes Impact Section

detectiveswho testified in Lyles’ lawsuit—which accusedpolice of hittinghimat theP&JCarryOut in East Baltimore — appeared confident on thewitness stand as Domenic Iamele, Lyles’ attorney,pressed for answers on the injuries.

Detective Greene told jurors Lyles became hostile inthe carryout and tried walking away. Lyles lifted hishands up asGreene tried to stop him, the officer said.

“DidMr. Lyles touchhis face?” Iamele asked.“I don’t know if Mr. Lyles touched his face,” Greene

replied,noting thatheblinkedandcouldhavemissed it.He suggested Lyles injured himself. “That’s the onlything that could’ve happened. I don’t know how hebroke the bridge of his nose.”

“Youdidn’t punchhim in the nose?”“No, sir.”Sgt. Michael Guzman told jurors he didn’t recall

being in the store or seeing anything suspicious.Lyles then told jurors about another incident: Three

weeks after his nose was broken, Lt. ChristopherNyberg andDetective Paul Southard stopped him nearhis apartment onMoravia ParkRoad.

The officers ordered Lyles to drop his pants andunderwear. He did. They told him to squat and cough.He did— out of fear. Lyles testified that an officer thensearched his genitals for drugs and rammed a glovedfinger in his rectum.

He told jurors the incident wasn’t a “coincidence.”Hebelievedtheofficerswereretaliatingbecausehehadcomplained about his broken nose.

Harris, an expert at the University of Pittsburgh LawSchool on police misconduct and accountability.“Peoplewill tend to view [police] as illegitimate. This isa real problem for police departments.”

Good, solid policing requires mutual respect be-tween officers and residents, he added.

Rawlings-Blake acknowledged the importance ofthat relationship in an interview about the costlysettlements. “It is a sacred covenant that each officermakes with members of the community, and when it’sbroken, it’s devastating for not just the victim, but it’sdevastating for our ability tomove forward as a city.”

She said the relationship between the communityand police has improved since Batts was hired, notingthat residents are providing more tips to Crime

Stoppers and making fewer complaintsabout discourteous officers.

But more than a dozen bystanderswho were named in court records orwho testified in court declined to talk toThe Sun about the arrests and alterca-tions that they witnessed — saying, likeLyles, that they feared retaliation frompolice.

City Councilman Brandon Scott, vicechairman of the council’s Public SafetyCommittee, said police leaders need tocleanse the force of bad officers.

“We have to expedite the process,”Scott said. “We have to fire them. Wecan’t afford to keep paying these settle-ments. These folks that are beatingpeople have to go.”

The Sun’s findings come as thenation’s attention has been focused on awhite officer’s shooting of an unarmed

black teenager in Ferguson, Mo. — an incident thattriggered days of violent protests. The officer said heacted in self-defense, but many area residents saw theshooting as a symptomof racially biased policing.

The shooting triggered a nationwide debate on theuseof forcebypolice, andU.S.AttorneyGeneralEricH.Holder Jr. announced an investigation of the town’spolice department. Published reports noted that fivecurrent and one former member of the 53-officeragency faced pending federal lawsuits that claimedthey used excessive force.

Such broad inquiries by the Department of Justice’scivil rights division examine whether officers have ahistory of discrimination or using force beyondstandard guidelines. They typically lead to consentdecrees and years of court monitoring. Twenty federalprobes have started in the past six years, in cities thatincludeCleveland,NewOrleans andPortland.

Attorney A. Dwight Pettit questions why theDepartment of Justice hasn’t opened an investigationinto theBaltimore PoliceDepartment.

He has filed scores of lawsuits against officers, andhis office gets dozens of calls each week from peoplealleging police abuse.He says he only takes the cases inwhich injuries are visible.

“It’s absolutely called for,” Pettit said, noting the longlist of settlements and court judgments involving citypolice. “Baltimore City is so much out of control, thePolice Department, in my opinion, warrants federalintervention and investigation.”

24 THE BALTIMORE SUN | NEWS | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 SUN INVESTIGATES

“BaltimoreCity is somuch outof control, the PoliceDepartment,inmy opinion,warrants federalintervention and investigation.”

AttorneyA.DwightPettit

Barbara Floyd, above, gazes out her window at the spot on North Montford Avenue where she says a detective ground her face into the concrete in 2009. She reached a $30,000settlement in 2011. Below, Floyd holds a picture of her forehead injuries that match a hole in the pavement.

ALGERINA PERNA/BALTIMORE SUN PHOTOS

AT BALTIMORESUN.COM■ View a video of Barbara Floyd and SalahudeenAbdul-Aziz talking about their encounters withcity police officers

■ View a visualization comparing how the mostexpensive settlements and court judgments since2011 — all $30,000 or more — have beendistributed, by time and by value

FacedownonconcreteFive years after an incident that left her injured,

Barbara Floyd still wonders what happened to theofficer she said attacked her.

“I believe in justice,” Floyd said, recounting aconfrontation with undercover officers who weremaking a drug sweep in her McElderry Park neigh-borhood. “That’swhat I believe in. I don’t think peopleshould be treated like animals— even guilty ones. But Iwas an innocent one.”

On a Tuesday afternoon in March 2009, Floydspottedacrowdofofficersandbystandersupthestreet,her lawsuit stated. She then heard a detective threatento fire a stun gun at her 20-year-old grandson.

Floyd,whowas58at the timeandwithout acriminalrecord, climbed down the four steps of her gray brickrowhouse to usher her grandson away from the drugoperation.

After being told to leave, she said she walked homeand leaned on a tree. Someone suddenly wrapped anarmaroundher neck and threwher to the ground.

“I was struggling ’cause I didn’t know who it was,”Floyd recalled in an interview that mirrored herdescriptions incourt records. “Hewastryingtograbmyarms.Heputhiskneeonmyneck.Heputanother leg inthe small of my back. He was grinding my face to thepavement.”

Though she was face down on thesidewalk, she heard Detective JosephGrossman, a member of the ViolentCrimes Impact Section, scream at her tolie down.

Floyd, who is 4-foot-11 and 107 pounds,couldn’t breathe with Grossman on herback. A struggle ensued and Floyd triedstanding, but Grossman kept her downwhile handcuffing her.

Her vision faded.“After that I thought I was gonna die

because I had tunnel vision,” she said inthe interview, fighting back tears. “Every-thing had gotten dark, dark and black.”

When the altercation ended, Floyd hadgashes on her forehead, face and knees.Paramedics treated her before she wastaken to jail.

But because her blood pressure topped200, jailers declined to admit her to theCentral Booking and Intake Facility, according to courtrecords.Medics rushedher toMercyHospital.

After she was released from the hospital, Grossmancharged herwith resisting arrest and obstruction.

In charging documents, he gave a different accountof the incident, accusing Floyd of stepping betweenofficers and her grandson. When officers ordered thegrandson to leave, he refused. Floyd then “adopted ahostile and aggressive posture” and tried to pull himaway,Grossmanwrote.Officers then tried to arrest her,but she tried breaking away and fell face-first to theground. When officers handcuffed Floyd, she scraped“her forehead on the sidewalk, causing a minorlaceration.”

Floyd soon received a letter from Internal Affairsstating that Grossman and another officer were beinginvestigated formisconduct.

Still, Floyd was ashamed to go outside after themelee.

“My face was a mess,” she recalled, her voicedroppingasshestaredat thestreet fromakitchenchair.“My hair was gone on that side. I was bruised up. Notonly my face, my arms, my legs. My whole body wassore.”

She is still upset that officers ignored her questionsthat day. “All they do is tell you to shut the hell up.”

Floyd, who reached a $30,000 settlement in 2011,initially declined to discuss her case when The Suncontacted her in May. The next day, she changed hermind and agreed to an interview, even though she fearsretaliation from police and city lawyers for speakingout, and hasmoved out of the city.

Hill, the Internal Affairs chief, said her complaintagainstGrossmanwas not sustained. Grossman left theforce in July 2012, but officials declined to say why,noting the legal restrictions on releasing personnelrecords to the public. He joined the Baltimore CountyPoliceDepartment the samemonth; that agencywouldnotmake himavailable for comment.

Complaints andawardsAlthough the city’s settlements and judgments have

totaled $5.7 million since 2011, a state law may havesaved Baltimore taxpayers millions of dollars. TheLocal Government Tort Claims Act caps damagesagainst local governments at $200,000per claim.

Taxpayers in other cities aren’t as lucky. ClevelandandDallas have paid between $500,000 andmore than$1million to settle individual policemisconduct cases.

The Dallas Police Department has paid $6.6 million

in 26 settlements and judgments since 2011; theMiami-DadeCounty department paid $1.8million overthat period in an unspecified number of cases. Bothagencies are similar in size to Baltimore’s.

In addition to the settlements and jury awards,Baltimore has paid $5.8 million to outside law firms todefend those lawsuits and others since July 2010.

According tocitypolicy, officials arebound todefendofficers as long as they follow departmental guidelineswhen using force to make arrests. An agreementbetween the city and the police union guarantees thattaxpayerswill pay court damages in such cases.

Although police officials declined to release individ-ual personnel records, they did discuss the issue inbroad terms, saying that from 2012 through July, thedepartment received 3,048 misconduct complaintsagainst officers. Of those, officials sustained 1,203complaints — 39 percent — meaning investigatorscould prove the claimswere true.

That led to 61 resignations and discipline for morethan 850 officers, measures ranging from writtenreprimands to suspensions.

But in some cases that resulted in settlements orjudgments, officerswerenotdisciplinedevenafter theywere found liable in court.

Cherry, the union president, said it would be unfairto discipline officers if they were cleared in internal

investigations. He stressed that nobody can predicthowa jurywill decide cases.

“The [officers] who get the most complaints are theoneswhoaredoing theirwork,” he said. “Thesemaybesomeof the best officers.”

Brokennose, facial fractureSalahudeen Abdul-Aziz was awarded $170,000 in

2011 by a Baltimore jury as compensation for a beatingby police in West Baltimore’s Upton area. But heremains haunted by the incident and fears the police.

The nightmare began on a warm day in September2009 as he walked out of a corner store and headedtoward Westwood Street, sipping on a cold soda andmunching on potato chips.

Abdul-Aziz, then 24, was hurrying back to his aunt’sair-conditioned home. On the way, he joined upwith aneighborhood acquaintance.

Officers Robert Stokes and Marvin Gross spottedthem leave an alley in a well-known drug area,according to charging documents. As the officersneared, the man with Abdul-Aziz tossed a glass vialwithwhite powder.

Abdul-Aziz was questioned, handcuffed and put inthe back of a cruiser as officers quizzed the other manonthecurb.AsAbdul-Azizwriggledhishands, tryingtoadjust hiswristwatch, hewas yanked out of the car.

The officers slammed him onto the ground andstarted punching him in the face, two witnessestestified at a 2011 civil trial over police misconductallegations. One witness said the officers switchedpositions “probably six times” during the beating, asGross “hit him five or six timeswith his fist.”

Abdul-Aziz was helpless. “I was unable to doanything. Iwas handcuffed,” he testified.

Hedescribedabrokennoseand facial fracture, alongwith severe swelling and a hemorrhage in his right eye— injuries that tookmore than threeweeks to heal.

“What was your state of mind that day?” his lawyerasked.

Abdul-Aziz replied, “I thought I was gonna die thatday.”

Gross’ account of the incident was different. He saidhe saw Abdul-Aziz, hands cuffed behind his back,wiggle around in thecruiser.Gross thoughtAbdul-Azizwas hiding drugs, so he pulled him from the car andtold him to open his hands. But Abdul-Aziz tried tohead-butt Gross and run, the officer testified.

The officers said they feared for their safety andtackledAbdul-Aziz.

Abdul-Aziz tried to get up, but the officers orderedhimtostop.Grossplaceda forearmacrossAbdul-Aziz’schest and Stokes pinned his legs to the ground, Grosssaid, adding: “He just refused to stay still.”

“What was Mr. Abdul-Aziz doing that was illegal?”Abdul-Aziz’s lawyer asked.

“He wasn’t doing anything,” Gross replied. “That’swhy I conducted a field interview.”

Stokes told jurors he didn’t hit Abdul-Aziz. “I didn’treally do anything except hold his legs down,” Stokessaid, adding that he didn’t see Abdul-Aziz do anythingillegal before the stop.

Abdul-Aziz was vindicated by the court system.After a two-day civil trial in February 2011, jurorsawardedhimdamages. And a judge dismissed criminalcharges of resisting arrest, assault, drug possession anddisorderly conduct.

Still, Abdul-Aziz, whowas found guilty of carrying afirearm in 2005, is upset that despite his complaint,police officials said the two officers were cleared by aninternal investigation.

“If I fight on any other job or beat up anybody, I’mterminated,” Abdul-Aziz, 29, said recently in hisBaltimore home.

“You beat up a citizen for no reason and had no realprobable cause, and you still have your jobs. That’scrazy. These cops still have jobs.”

Reforms inprogressPolice officials say a host of department reforms are

underway to addressmisconduct.For example, months after taking over, Batts created

the Professional Standards and Accountability Bureau,whichoversees training, policies andall internal issues,and pushed to eliminate a backlog of more than 130disciplinary cases.

He moved to toughen trial boards, which heardisciplinary cases after complaints are investigatedinternally, by changing theirmakeup.Theynowconsistof two command staff members and a lieutenantinstead of a command staff member, a lieutenant and aperson of the same rank as the accused. As a result, therate at which officers are held responsible has jumpedfrom57 percent to 88 percent, officials say.

A computer system implemented five months agotracks lawsuits filed against officers, Rodriguez said.

The information is combined with another trackingsystem in use since 2010. That system tracks matterssuch as injuries from arrests, citizen complaints anduse-of-force reports. It is designed to enable policeleaders to intervene with counseling, better su-pervision, training and, if appropriate, disciplinaryaction.

“We’re monitoring them where it was not donebefore,” Rodriguez said, adding that “bugs” are beingworked out as the department studies the best nationalstandards to measure officers. Other police agencies,including the Maryland State Police, already use thesame system.

Still, the tracking system has shortcomings. Forexample, police officials acknowledge that it does notinclude lawsuits that concluded before the agencystarted tracking them this year.

Samuel Walker, emeritus professor of criminaljustice at the University of Nebraska, isn’t surprisedthat Baltimore lacked a system to track lawsuits. “It hasa national reputation of not being a professional andeffective department.”

FormerPoliceCommissionerFrederickH.BealefeldIII, who retired from the department in 2012, declined

to be interviewed about the issue, butsaid through a spokesman that he hadworked to eliminate misconduct andimprove the agency’s relationshipwithresidents.

“Commissioner Bealefeld was com-mitted tomaking Baltimore a safer citywhile building a professional, commu-nity-focused and accountable policedepartment,” said the spokesman, An-thonyGuglielmi.

Asked about investigations into alle-gations of police brutality, BaltimoreState’s Attorney Bernstein said hisoffice has prosecuted 10 officers forassault and 10 others for less seriousoffenses since 2011. In some high-profile deaths, officers were not prose-cutedbecause theyhadonly seconds tomake decisions, Bernstein said. That’svery different from cases where offi-cers are more deliberate and assault

handcuffed suspects, he added.He said that improved training and recruitment, a

better discipline process, and greater transparencywould enhance the Police Department’s trust with thecommunity.

“It’s a real issue for us inBaltimore,” Bernstein said.Young, the City Council president, says many

African-American residents have an uneasy relation-shipwith the police force.

“Every blackmale or every African-American in thiscity are not criminals and shouldn’t be treated as such,”Young said. “Iwas stoppedmyself a couple times, and Iam the president of CityCouncil.”

He wants officers trained to communicate betterwith residents.

He’s heard too many complaints about them notallowing people to talk to defend themselves.

“They violate your civil rights and tell you you can’ttalk,” Young said.

He added: “[Residents] fear the police more thanthey fear the drug dealers on the corner.”Baltimore Sun research librarian Paul McCardellcontributed to this article.mpuente@baltsun.comtwitter.com/MarkPuente

25SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 | NEWS | THE BALTIMORE SUNSUN INVESTIGATES

“You beat up a citizen for no reasonand had no real probable cause, andyou still have your jobs. That’s crazy.

These cops still have jobs.”SalahudeenAbdul-Azizwona$170,000 juryverdict as a result

of a 2009arrest. The chargeswere laterdropped.

Salahudeen Abdul-Aziz still has a scar under his left eye from a 2009 incident in which he accused police of beatinghim while handcuffed.

ALGERINA PERNA/BALTIMORE SUN

ABOUTTHESERIESThe Baltimore Sun set out in April to examine

lawsuits against Baltimore police officers thatalleged constitutional and civil rights violations.Reporter Mark Puente started combing throughhundreds of court cases in which officers werenamed as defendants, and sought other recordsthrough Maryland Public Information Act re-quests.

The city ofBaltimoredidnot provide records ofthe payouts until late May. During the six-monthinvestigation, The Sun used police reports, courtrecords and databases to find addresses ofaccusers, aswell as bystanderswhowitnessed theincidents.

Besides watching dozens of hours of trialrecordings, Puente and, at times, a photographer,visited more than 100 homes and businessesthroughout the region to search for people namedin charging documents and lawsuits.