The magistrate on the other hand is the guardian of justice, and, if of justice, then of equality also. And since he is assumed to have no more than his share, if he is just (for he does not assign to himself more of what is good in itself, unless such a share is proportional to his merits-so that it is for others that he labours, and it is for this reason that men, as we stated previously, say that justice is 'another's good'), therefore a reward must be given him, and this is honour and privilege; but those for whom such things are not enough become tyrants.

—Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book V

You can spend hours reading the report filed on Wednesday by the Department of Justice on the racial catastrophe that is the Baltimore Police Department, and I've already done that. (The New York Times got an early copy.) No matter how many times you read it, you still come back to Ray Kelly, who is a normal 45-year old working guy who can't even remember how many times he's been stopped by the Baltimore Police Department for Being A Normal 45-year Old Working Guy While Black.

I can remember, vividly, every time a policeman has stopped me throughout my 62 years on the planet. I can feel the vise in my gut and the sweat beginning to gather on my brow, and I've never done anything more criminal than commit the occasionally disputable traffic violation.

I can't imagine what Ray Kelly's average day is like.

"Hearing the actual numbers, like on the traffic stops, is blowing my mind," Mr. Kelly said.

The numbers would blow anyone's mind.

In Baltimore, a city that is 63 percent black, the Justice Department found that 91 percent of those arrested for discretionary offenses like "failure to obey" or "trespassing" were African-American. Blacks make up 60 percent of Baltimore's drivers, but they account for 82 percent of traffic stops. Of the 410 pedestrians who were stopped at least 10 times in the five and a half years of data reviewed, 95 percent were black.

And that's just the top line.

Not only are the numbers staggering on their own, but the report makes clear that the numbers the BPD reported have all the legitimacy of a floating crap game. For example, in 2014, the BPD recorded 124,000 stops but an in-house audit found that officers finished 37 reports out of a sample group of 123 stops. The corruption runs so deep beneath the numbers that it appears that there isn't anything there except the corruption.

But, Ray Kelly.

Andrew Burton Getty Images

Every morning, Ray Kelly got up and he was far more certain than any American should be that he would have an encounter with law enforcement. He got up and he was far more certain than any American should be that he would have an encounter with law enforcement that would not be pleasant. He got up and he was far more certain than any American should be that he would have an encounter with law enforcement that would end badly.

The history of the numbers—and, therefore, how things went so badly wrong in Baltimore—is a sorry and not entirely inexplicable story. Not if you are familiar with the history of how things go so badly wrong in this country. Race is shot throughout the report; the numbers draw a clear and vivid picture of that. Everything in the report comes down to the disinclination of the civic and political power to grant the freedom of their constitutional rights to its African American citizens. Nothing in the report proceeds without that simple fact. From fugitive slave patrols to this report, the history of American law enforcement shows that so much of American law enforcement hasn't any more idea of how to solve this nation's original sin than does any other institution of American society. Except these people have badges. And guns.

But, Ray Kelly.

Ray Kelly walked the streets of Baltimore with a place in his heart and in his head in which he knew the Bill of Rights did not apply to him. He walked the streets of Baltimore with a place in his heart and in his head where he knew that he was not immune from illegal searches and seizures, that his freedom of speech and of assembly and, god knows, his right to petition his government for redress of grievances were all truncated, their spirit amputated in him. Every day, he walked the streets with a place in his heart and his head in which he knew that. Every day.

Chip Somodevilla Getty Images

It's a tough report for, among other people, former Baltimore Mayor, former Maryland Governor, and former Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley, whose campaign was dogged throughout its brief life by his commitment while mayor to zero-tolerance, "broken windows" policing which, in too many places and too many instances, was simply a declaration of open season on the people on whom it has been open season for 300-odd years. The report goes into considerable detail on this phenomenon.

In the early 2000s, BPD began a "zero-tolerance" enforcement strategy that encouraged officers to make frequent stops, searches, and arrests for misdemeanor offenses. This strategy overwhelmingly impacted the City's African-American residents and predominantly African-American neighborhoods…In some cases, BPD supervisors have ordered their subordinates to target African-Americans specifically for heightened enforcements.

Martin O'Malley's first year as mayor of Baltimore was 2000. He took office during an incredibly violent period in the city's history.

But, Ray Kelly…

Every day, when he went to lunch, he had to drive more carefully than I ever do. He had to talk more carefully than I do. And even that would not be enough, because there was that place in the local government that was very similar to that place in his heart and in his head wherein the Bill of Rights did not fully apply to him, wherein its spirit was amputated.

Chip Somodevilla Getty Images

The report also describes how the victims of the BPD put themselves in peril simply for complaining about being victims of the BPD. This is the way this kind of thing works. This is the way actual tyranny works, day after day, stop after stop, year after year.

For example, an officer in downtown Baltimore in 2011 "felt…that it was reasonable" to order a young African American man to leave the area because he "had no respect for law enforcement" and was making "idle threats toward a uniformed officer."

Indeed, in another case, an officer patrolling the inner harbor on the Fourth of July complained that a man, "Nicholas," bumped his shoulder while walking past. As Nicholas continued walking, the officer said, "Hey, you ran right into me," to which Nicholas replied "fuck you" and continued walking. Although no crime had been committed, the officer pursued Nicholas and demanded his identification. Nicholas continued to walk away from the officer, who attempted to grab his arm. Nicholas swore at the officer again and continued to pull away, at which point the officer informed him he was under arrest. According to the officer's report, after attempting to place the man under arrest, the incident ended in a physical altercation between officers, Nicholas, and his brother, with the brother eventually being tased. Though Nicholas made repeated attempts to walk away peacefully, the officer pursued him and escalated the encounter. According to the officer's report, he believed that Nicholas's attitude and actions indicated "he was purposely looking for a confrontation with law enforcement[.]" However, Nicholas made no obvious threats or aggressive movements toward the officer. His use of profanity did not rise to the level of "fighting words" and was protected by the First Amendment. The officer's pursuit, detention, and eventual arrest was an unlawful exercise of government power to exact personal vengeance for a perceived slight.

Furthermore, we have reviewed many incidents in which BPD officers believe they are justified in using force or arresting a person, based solely on profane or insulting words. We reviewed an incident, for example, in which an officer tased a young man who, according to the officer's report, had removed his shirt and was yelling at club patrons and staff.

But, Ray Kelly…

Every night, when he got home, he was relieved that he was not stopped and searched. He was relieved that he did not encounter local law enforcement. He went to sleep and he woke up the next morning and the vise tightened again. Day after day, stop after stop, year after year. This report is not about America. It's about something else. It's about a nation within a nation, where the rules are made from the outside and are faceless and omnipresent. This report is about something like a failed state, a place where self-government dies for lack of oxygen and nobody outside that failed state seems to care.

Ray Kelly is no more or less an American than I am. Or you are. Or the members of the Baltimore Police Department are. Without that simple truth, nothing else goddamn matters.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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