Officials launch internal investigation after message appears in vehicle images on Facebook following death of Freddie Gray in custody

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Baltimore police department is inspecting all of its vehicles, after photographs posted on Facebook showed the door of a police van emblazoned with a message that read: “Enjoy your ride, cuz we sure will!”

The sign, on the inside of the van door, would be visible to anyone detained by the police and placed inside the van.

Freddie Gray autopsy finds 'high-energy injury' while riding in police van Read more

The photographs surfaced less than two weeks after an autopsy report revealed that Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man whose death in April sparked protests across the nation and serious rioting in the city, suffered a “high-energy injury” while riding in a Baltimore police van.

Gray, 25, died a week after he was arrested. His death was ruled a homicide and was found to be the result of officers’ failure to follow procedures.

The photos of the sign in the police van were taken on Tuesday near the Central District Police Station on Baltimore Street, where the van was parked with its doors left open, according to WBAL-TV 11 News.

“The nature and the posting of wording in one of our transport vehicles is both concerning and unacceptable,” the police department said in a statement provided to the TV channel.

“We have recently become aware of the wording and have begun an internal investigation to determine all the circumstances surrounding its placement and to identify the person or persons responsible for its posting. This is an incident that is being taken very seriously.”

According to Baltimore police sergeant Jarron Jackson, deputy police commissioner Dean Palmere ordered all department vehicles to be inspected.

On Wednesday, a day after the photos were taken, Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that cameras would be installed in Baltimore police vans.

“We’re working through a process that will place cameras with recording capabilities in the backs of all our police vans, to ensure that we have a more complete record of what occurs there,” she said.

The six police officers involved in Gray’s arrest have been indicted by a grand jury. All six face charges of reckless endangerment, defined in Maryland law as “engaging in conduct that creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another” and punishable by five years in prison.



Caesar Goodson, driver of the van, faces a charge of second-degree murder. Four of the officers are charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The van carrying Gray had a surveillance camera, according to Rawlings-Blake. The camera was not working at the time of Gray’s injury.