'Rat Cop' Joe Crystal Shunned From Baltimore Police Department After Reporting Officer Brutality

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/16/baltimore-joe-crystal_n_7582374.html

Sebastian Murdock

Posted: 06/16/2015 5:36 pm EDT Updated: 3 hours ago

BALTIMORE -- Former Detective Joe Crystal sat at a back table in Martin’s West Ballroom last Thursday, scanning the room filled with police officers for any friends he still had left.

Under glowing chandeliers, more than 500 law enforcement officials and their families mingled prior to an awards ceremony honoring Baltimore’s finest. Crystal, 34, was one of the people up for an award, though few had expected him to show. He was a pariah. He had informed on two other cops who engaged in police brutality. And it had cost him his livelihood.

(further .........)

In 2011, Crystal witnessed two fellow cops beating down a drug suspect after the suspect, fleeing from the officers, kicked in the door of a home belonging to another officer's girlfriend.

For reporting the officers’ actions to the State’s Attorney’s Office, Crystal was labeled a "snitch" and a "rat cop." The threats and intimidation -- which included someone putting a dead rat on Crystal's windshield -- are outlined in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that Crystal filed against Commissioner Anthony Batts and the BPD.
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This sickening story describes an honest cop who saw two other officers beat up a suspect, and he reported it. It includes many details and describes how his fellow officers treated him after the report. It is not pretty. It reminds me of "Serpico" and how I felt after watching that film. Yet this happened just over three years ago. Little has changed in the 40 years since Serpico ..At least his fellow officers did not set him up to be shot as in Serpico. It is worth reading, but describes very ugly behavior on the part of Crystal's fellow officers.