Baltimore, arrested protestors reach potential settlement, including policy reforms

Listen to this article

A group of protesters arrested at Artscape in 2016 reached a proposed settlement with Baltimore last week but the monitoring team and judge overseeing police reform under the federal consent decree will have the final say about the policy changes negotiated by the parties.

The plaintiffs brought suit in Baltimore City Circuit Court and alleged police conducted a mass arrest without giving an opportunity to disperse and detained them in hot vans. The plaintiffs included protesters who had walked onto an Interstate 83 on-ramp and the interstate itself during the Artscape festival as well as bystanders caught up in the arrest.

As a part of the proposed settlement, the police agreed to advocate for a number of policy changes to be included in the comprehensive reform happening as part of the consent decree, said Debra Gardner, legal director of the Public Justice Center, which is representing the plaintiffs.

The defendants will not be in violation of the settlement if the monitor or court requires revisions, according to Gardner, and the city and police department have pledged to make every effort to have the reforms implemented. The monitoring team has already seen the draft policies, she added.

The settlement also includes $145,000 to be split between the nine named plaintiffs.

“I really am hoping that this is evidence of a new day with the police department and that they will work hard to implement these new policies,” she said. “I’m hoping that they will work as hard to implement them as they have worked with us in crafting them. That’s obviously going to be the real issue, the real challenge.”

The police argued they had probable cause to arrest the protesters because walking on the interstate violated state law. But attorneys for the plaintiffs said the alleged conduct of police after the arrests, including tightly handcuffing individuals and verbally abusing them, was also a concern.

The city does not admit to any wrongdoing in the proposed settlement.

The proposed policy changes address free speech and protest, fair and impartial policing and treatment of individuals in custody, areas that overlap with those already in line for revision by the monitoring team.

Gardner said the backdrop of the consent decree made it more complicated to negotiate policy reforms but also made it easier to reach a good agreement. The plaintiffs were pleased to “have a seat at the table” and be involved in part of the reform efforts in the city, she said.

“The clients are very happy,” Gardner said. “They’re very happy that their input to the policies was accepted. They’re happy as well with the damage awards.”

Baltimore City Solicitor Andre M. Davis did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The case is Baltimore Bloc et al. v. Baltimore Police Department et al., 24C17003680.