Baltimore police union issues scathing report describing department in chaos due to mismanagement

The union that represents rank-and-file Baltimore Police officers issued a scathing report Tuesday blaming intense violence in the city on severe mismanagement of the police department, accusing Commissioner Michael Harrison and other city officials of ignoring available solutions in favor of politically correct platitudes.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 described a police department in chaos, where leaders who blame violence in part on a shortage of officers have no concept of the agency’s current staffing, no effective plan for utilizing existing officers and no ability to retain them — with nearly 20% of officers hired since 2018 having already resigned from the force.

“The BPD does not know how many employees they have, where they are assigned and what their rank is, and in many cases what their job functions are,” the union wrote in its report, titled "The Mismanagement of the Baltimore Police Department and Its Impact on Public Safety."

Union president Sgt. Mike Mancuso said his members are engaged in “one of the most difficult crime fights in BPD history” with a patrol unit that is hundreds of officers short.

Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-police-union-report-20191008-tj75tobwjjavva4vgyjwf2pj24-story.html