Advertisement Judge overseeing Baltimore police consent decree: Shortage of officers is alarming

A federal judge ordered the Baltimore Police Department to send him monthly reports of the number of new hires, saying the shortage of officers is alarming.U.S. Chief District Judge James Bredar's decision came during a hearing Wednesday on the Police Department's federal consent decree for reform.The Baltimore Police Department has been on a hiring campaign, but the number of new officers in 2019 is less than the year before.The shortage of police officers in Baltimore is well publicized.On Wednesday, Bredar, the federal judge overseeing the consent decree, added new urgency to filling the ranks. He ordered police commanders to report their hiring numbers to him each month.Bredar said the cause of his alarm is akin to "the patient bleeding out. Those stats are bad."Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said improvements in recruiting are being made."We recognize that we are short several hundred officers. We are working to overcome that through the use of overtime and being smart with deployment strategies," Harrison said.The judge used last week's kicking of a police sergeant as he made an arrest as evidence that better trust with the public is needed."People who trust the police ... don't stand by and tolerate the kicking of a police officer. ... They assist that officer," Bredar said.The judge also fired back at critics who said the consent decree prevents officers from doing their job."That's just plain incorrect. ... Nothing in the consent decree forbids investigative stops. Nothing in the consent decree directs officers to pull back from the ... job," Bredar said.Harrison acknowledged the consent decree can be a hard sell within the ranks. He said he saw it before as police chief in New Orleans."I've been a part of where it has been done. It was as challenging, if not more challenging, than what we are facing right now, but I give a lot of credit to the men and women of this department who show up every day in spite of the challenges we face," Harrison said.Also in court Wednesday, the Police Department gave the numbers of commanders who live in the city, saying there aren't many: 31 of 108 lieutenants, less than five of 18 captains and none of the two colonels.