An exodus at Trump’s DOJ is threatening to unravel Baltimore’s federal police oversight
The wave of departures threatens to tilt the 8-year-old court case into dysfunction.
After a federal investigation spurred by the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore launched its police consent decree in April 2017.
Baltimore’s homicide rate dropped to a historic low last month, defied racial trends
Baltimore ended April with five homicides, the lowest monthly total in recent memory.
April marked the lowest total of any month in any year dating back to 2012.
UMMS demands state pay $4.6 million in prisoner health care debt
University of Maryland Medical System’s lawsuit could hinge on a legal debate over what qualifies as a state subcontractor.
University of Maryland Medical System corporate headquarters at 250 West Pratt Street in downtown Baltimore. UMMS is suing the the Maryland corrections department over unpaid prisoner health care bills.
Baltimore Police are recruiting a wave of new officers, but there’s one major problem
The Baltimore Police Department is now facing delays in getting trainees out on the streets due to its reliance on a state-owned firing range.
The police department's recruitment efforts have been hampered recently by its reliance on a state-owned firearms training range in Baltimore County.
El Salvador won’t let Sen. Van Hollen visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia
The vice president of El Salvador denied Sen. Chris Van Hollen a face-to-face visit with a Maryland man wrongly deported last month.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks to the press in La Libertad, El Salvador, where he arrived regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)
A decade after Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore police still work to gain trust
In the decade since Gray’s arrest, Baltimore insists there has been a transformation in policing, but some residents aren’t so sure.
From left, officers Rashad Hamond, Terrell Taylor, and Steve Tandy on a "community walk" with community members in the Forest Park neighborhood.
Maryland jails and prisons can’t keep track of their pills. Now the DEA is cracking down.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration visited two state jails last year and performed “accountability audits” that uncovered violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Baltimore jail officials lost track of 90,000 methadone pills. The state kept it quiet
Maryland wants to address racial disparities in its prison system. Will Trump interfere?
Despite Maryland’s progressive reputation, the disparities in its criminal justice system are among the worst in the country.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown acknowledged an “assault” from Donald Trump in some areas, but said a majority of elements of the criminal justice system reside at the state level.
City Council pressures police, mayor for a plan to address open-air drug markets
Baltimore is shifting its approach to fighting a burgeoning illicit drug trade, and the City Council is pressing police and Mayor Brandon Scott for a plan.
Baltimore City Council members ask leaders from the mayor's office and the police department for their plans to fight open-air drug trafficking in city neighborhoods during a public safety committee hearing on March 11, 2025.
City, DOJ agree: Police transports of detainees have improved since Freddie Gray
City attorneys and the U.S. Department of Justice are asking a judge to narrow the scope of the Baltimore Police Department’s federal oversight.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley is officially sworn into office by Mayor Brandon Scott during a ceremony at City Hall on Thursday, October 5.
With deteriorating fences, Maryland’s aging prisons struggle to secure their perimeters
Maintaining Maryland’s prison fences is estimated to cost the state $34 million every two years for the next 30 years.
Barbed wire is seen outside the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
Maryland prisons are awash in handmade weapons. Contraband recoveries more than tripled.
The state corrections department recorded a discovery rate for weapons in its facilities at about 13 per 100 prisoners and detainees.
Maryland’s prisons and the state-run Baltimore jail system have seen a 375% increase in recovered contraband weapons over the previous fiscal year.
Potential Medicaid cuts loom over partnership linking incarcerated people with health care
People leaving Maryland prisons and state-run Baltimore jails often do so with complex medical needs, ranging from substance use disorder, to hypertension and diabetes.
Jessica Delgado, left, and Kezia Tate of HealthCare Access Maryland's enrollment team meet with an incarcerated person about their health care coverage during a community resource fair held in December at a state-run youth detention center.
Maryland inches toward reforming trans prisoner policies as it pays out legal settlements
Trans prisoners make up a fraction of Maryland’s incarcerated population, but nearly half of its settlement payouts last year. Efforts to reform policy have been slow.
Illustration of two sets of prison bars and door to solitary cell overlapped by silhouette of trans woman with a ponytail.
Violent assaults are spiking in state prisons. Could body cameras be a solution?
Drugs? Staffing? Lack of air conditioning? Maryland corrections officials and union members differ on reasons behind surge in violence.
Violent assaults in Maryland prisons jumped by more than 50% last year.
Workplace hazards for Maryland parole agents: Getting shot, stabbed, punched or strangled
State inspectors have cited the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services with health and safety violations after parole agent’s killing.
State prosecutors who investigate deaths at the hands of police were busier than ever last year
A specialized wing of the attorney general’s office launched 22 investigations and its first prosecution in 2024.
A specialized wing of the attorney general’s office launched 22 investigations and its first prosecution in 2024.
33-year-old man dies after apparent medical episode at Baltimore jail: ‘This is not fair’
Trayvon Ocain, 33, died in a facility that is under scrutiny for its health care system. His family wants answers.
Trayvon Ocain died after suffering an apparent medical episode at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.
Baltimore homicides and shootings fall to lowest levels since 2015
Baltimore Police say 201 people were killed in 2024, with more than 400 people shot and wounded.
Parishioners hold candles during a prayer walk in the Irvington neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. on Monday, December 30, 2024.
Maryland must turn over contested Baltimore jail records, loses medical monitor fight
Maryland has spent nearly half a million dollars on a private law firm to try and exit a decades-old lawsuit. So far, it has little to show for it.
The ACLU is further scrutinizing records from the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center’s inpatient mental health unit, which became notorious in recent years for what the advocacy groups described as “extremely harsh living conditions.”
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