Stephen Janis, The Examiner
2006-06-22 09:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Documents obtained by The Examiner appear to confirm that the Baltimore Police Department uses the number of arrests to evaluate officers, a charge the department has denied in the past.

The documents, which contain bar graphs that compare the number of arrests per shift commander against an average of total arrests, suggests that the department uses quotas.

“A picture’s worth a thousand words,” said Holton, D-8th District. “It shows they’re tracking to see what kind of arrests are coming in by unit and by district and evaluating it against a set number,” she said.

The documents depict bar graphs that list the number of arrests for each commander — there are 27 in total representing nine of the police districts. Arrests for each district are compared to a baseline number — 40 arrests on the seventh day of the month and 150 arrests on the 28th day. A line drawn through the graph shows which unit is under or over the average.

Holton called the documents “frightening.”

“If the police department feels like it takes more arrests to fight crime, they’re entitled to their opinion. I don’t agree with it,” she said.

Council Member Kenneth Harris, who recently sponsored a resolution that asked the City Council to investigate the existence of quotas, said the documents are not a surprise.

“This brings more validity to what officer and citizens and have conveyed to me over the past several weeks,” said Harris, D-4th District.

The revelation comes while the police department is facing legal challenges over its arrest polices. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union joined in a lawsuit charging that the city has made “thousands” of “illegal arrests.” The court documents also said the department transferred officers who didn’t make enough arrests.

Paul Blair, president of the city police union, said the latest documents reflect what he has been hearing from his membership.

“The biggest complaint is the implied threats if they don’t make enough arrests,” he said. “If you don’t get your arrests up, the officer is moved to another sector, or another district.”

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said the sheet is used to track officers’ performance. “It is a weekly count of arrests made by shift. Yes, we keep track of arrests, but that does not mean there are quotas,” he said.

“It is just one way we evaluate officers,” he said.

Margeret Burns, spokeswoman for the city state’s attorney, told The Examiner Wednesday that the number of arrests that her office has declined to prosecute — 971 through Monday — is a problem.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com