RT.com

The death of Freddie Gray kicked off protests and riots across Baltimore, Maryland. But reports and lawsuits show a trend of city police brutally mistreating residents, especially those in the poorer communities. The city paid millions in settlements.

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Gray was the second person to die in Baltimore PD custody in 2015. In February, Trayvon Scott, 30, died after showing distress while in a holding cell at the Northern District police station on Valentine’s Day. Police said no force was used in Scott’s death, according to the Baltimore Sun. An initial examination by the medical examiner indicated that a pre-existing medical condition was to blame.

Pain in #Baltimore runs much deeper than #FreddieGray's death. Riots come from youth w no opportunities. My report: //t.co/onTYsbI0jf — Anya Parampil (@anyaparampil) April 28, 2015

Over the course of nearly four years, Baltimore paid some $5.7 million to more than 100 people in court judgments or settlements for lawsuits claiming police brutality and civil rights violations, the Sun reported after conducting a six-month investigation. Payouts were capped at $500,000 per case, unless there were extenuating circumstances like multiple victims or actual malice. The city paid an additional $5.8 million in legal fees in defending the police in those cases.

“One hidden cost: The perception that officers are violent can poison the relationship between residents and police,” the Sun’s Mark Puente wrote.

A series of lawsuits

Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

“Those cases detail a frightful human toll,” Puente wrote. “Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones – jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles – head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement.”

Most of the victims were African-Americans, and in almost every case the charges against the arrestee were dropped â€’ if charges were filed at all. Some of the officers were the target of as many as five lawsuits. The Sun investigation looked at suits with payouts between January 2011 and September 2014.

This is what I mean by apartheid policing. We spend more to harass & incarcerate than we do on health, housing, arts, and parks combined. — Lawrence Brown (@BmoreDoc) April 28, 2015

“These officers taint the whole department when they create these kinds of issues for the city,” City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young told the Sun in September. “I’m tired of the lawsuits that cost the city millions of dollars by some of these police officers.”

But Robert F. Cherry, president of the city’s Fraternal Order of Police lodge, defended the Baltimore PD, calling some of the lawsuits frivolous.

“Our officers are not brutal,” he said. “The trial attorneys and criminal elements want to take advantage of the courts.”

Police brutality and officer-involved deaths

The deaths of 31 people after encounters with Baltimore PD officers might dispute Cherry’s claim that the department’s cops â€’ at least some of them â€’ are not brutal.

According to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland report, 31 people in Baltimore â€’ out of 109 total in the state of Maryland â€’ died after interacting with police between 2010 and 2014. Statewide, nearly 70 percent of the victims were black, and more than 40 percent were unarmed.

Just over two years ago, James Smith, a veteran off-duty Baltimore police officer with tactical training, barricaded himself inside a house after shooting his fiancÃ©e, Kendra Diggs, from an upstairs window as she stood on the sidewalk talking to police officers who had responded to the home. Smith’s 4-year-old son was later taken from the home by police while Smith remained holed up inside during the multi-hour standoff in May 2013.