John Bacon, and Melanie Eversley

USA TODAY

A Justice Department report blasting the Baltimore Police Department for a pattern of unconstitutional behavior should help expedite a lengthy, costly and painful reform effort, city and federal officials said Wednesday.

Reforms are already underway, and officers who committed the most egregious behavior have been fired, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said.

The report claims officers routinely conducted unlawful stops and used excessive force often targeting black residents in low-income, African-American neighborhoods. Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said the department's "zero tolerance" strategy had little impact on crime solving while severely damaging community relations.

Gupta said the division and city are negotiating a consent decree on proposed reforms.

"Policing that violates the Constitution or federal law severely undermines community trust, and blanket assumptions about certain neighborhoods can lead to resentment against police," she said.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the report will help provide a "road map" for changes already underway in the department.

"The findings are challenging to hear," she said. "But let me be clear: I never sugarcoat our problems nor will I run away from our most pressing challenges."

Justice Department: Baltimore police regularly violated constitutional rights

Rawlings-Blake said 26 policies are being revised, and officer training is being improved. She said the department has begun equipping officers with body cameras, and use-of force guidelines have been rewritten.

She said she expects the changes could cost the city between $5 million and $10 million.

"The city has taken first steps in a long path to reform," she said. "We have a very long journey ahead of us."

Davis, who has served as commissioner since October, said some officers whose behavior was outlined in the report have been fired. His department is committed to reform, he said.

"I am very very concerned by some of the information contained in this report," he said. "Without a doubt, we will become a model for the rest of the nation."

The Justice Department has conducted similar reviews of dozens of cities, including Chicago, Cleveland and, after the well-publicized death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown, Ferguson, Mo. The Baltimore probe was prompted by the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man fatally injured while in police custody.

Six officers were initially charged in Gray's death, but after three officers were acquitted, charges against the rest were dropped.

The report said the police department recognizes community policing is an effective strategy to improve its relationship with the public. But the department needs a broader community policing plan that reaches all districts, the report indicates. The police department is trying to create new organizations rather than build relationships with existing organizations, the study says.

Some community groups told investigators that police stopped coming to meetings after Gray's death, one in a series of deaths of unarmed black people during police stops or while in police custody that ignited sometimes violent protests in Baltimore and across the nation.

"BPD's failings result from deficient policies, training, oversight and accountability, and policing strategies that do not engage effectively with the community," the report reads. "We are heartened to find both widespread recognition of these challenges and strong interest in reform."

The report concludes that the relationship between the police department and Baltimore's residents is "broken" and says that investigators discovered over the course of many interviews that people in impoverished, minority communities often felt "belittled, disbelieved and disrespected" by police officers.

Investigators discovered an "us versus them" mentality in the department, and when they approached one supervisor about community-oriented policing, were told, "I don't pander to the public."

"Indeed, our review of documents and our conversations with residents confirm that distrust is causing individuals to be reluctant to cooperate with police," the report reads.

Wayne Cohen, law professor at George Washington University and former president of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C., said the Justice Department report probably will accelerate change in Baltimore.

"This report is not a surprise," Cohen told USA TODAY. "It was clear there were steps that needed to be taken. It could take years, and could be costly and painful. But the Justice Department report should increase the pace of change."