Settlements

In 1998, Mr. Bryant was convicted of murdering Toni Bullock, a 16-year-old girl, and spent 17 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. He was later exonerated through the use of DNA evidence in 2016, and his family filed a lawsuit three years later against the Baltimore Police Department and Detectives William F. Ritz and Barry Verger, arguing that they did not disclose exculpatory evidence and . The case was settled for $8 million and was paid for by the City. Mr. Bryant passed away less than a year after he was released from prison.

In 2012, Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) planted drugs on and subsequently arrested Kyle Knox and Shaune Berry. Both served two years in jail before charges were dismissed. The corrupt task force often targeted victims by planting evidence, and many victims served time after being convicted. Not including this $195,000 settlement, Baltimore has spent over $13 million compensating victims of GTTF as of January 2022.

Officer Michael O’Sullivan arrested Smith due to his proximity to a gun on the ground. Smith was subsequently charged with illegal possession of a handgun and other firearm offenses. O’Sullivan wrote a false statement saying that he saw Smith throw the gun before fleeing the scene. O’Sullivan repeated this testimony at trial, causing Smith to be convicted.  O’Sullivan was later convicted of perjury, sentenced to 15 months in prison, and then eventually resigned from the police department on December 1, 2020. Smith will receive $100,000 from the city.

Umar Burley and Brent Matthews, the recipients of the largest settlement payment, served time in prison after an illegal car chase conducted by Baltimore Police. The chase resulted in the death of an 86-year-old man. Two separate but related lawsuits amounted to nearly $600,000 in settlement payments. Several officers on the GTTF were convicted of federal crimes, such as racketeering for robbing city residents.

Baltimore County announced in November 2020 that it will refrain from using written examinations for police recruitment purposes. A 2019 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the County was engaging in unintentional employment discrimination against African Americans applicants.

The lawsuit asserted the African American applicants were discriminated against in the hiring of entry-level police officer and cadet positions by heavily weighing examination scores in hiring decisions. DOJ officials argued that hiring examinations were not job-related and disproportionately excluded African Americans.

Officer Garcia’s lawsuit alleged that the Baltimore Police Department has a pattern of discrimination against Hispanic men. His suit was filed separately but is related to another settlement granted to Officer Jasmin Rowlett.

Rowlett and fellow Officer Luis Garcia were accused of fraternization by their colleagues, who also spread rumors about a relationship between the two. Rowlett also alleged that her supervisor made suggestive comments towards her.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Baltimore spent $12 million on police misconduct cases. A separate analysis conducted by Baltimore Brew concluded that Baltimore taxpayers paid $24.5 million for police misconduct settlements between fiscal years 2015 and 2019.