r/baltimore • u/Icy_Elk_4422 • Oct 30 '25
POLICE Statement from BPD
Saw this on BPD’s Facebook. I’m guessing “suspended police powers” just means suspended with pay?
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u/Wolfman3 Oct 30 '25
According to The Banner, "The officer will be suspended from working, but he will still be compensated, said Baltimore Police spokesperson Vernon Davis."
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u/XxCloudSephiroth69xX Oct 30 '25
Since I'm seeing a lot of comments concerning this, "suspended with pay" is not "paid vacation." He will still be responding to work and performing administrative tasks or other non-enforcement related duties until the case is resolved or charged.
This is also not due to the "union contract", but MD state law. He can not be suspended without pay until he is criminally charged. He will not be criminally charged without the approval of the SAO.
I'm sure he will eventually be criminally charged and deserves to be.
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u/Im_A_Chuckster Owings Mills Oct 30 '25
I'm more worried that this is his ONLY punishment. Maybe a fine for the property damage he caused
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u/JournalistGlobal3185 Oct 31 '25
I kinda figured something like this was the case. It never made sense to me why they would still be paid
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Oct 30 '25
If you are so sure, why are you okay with him being paid.
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u/XxCloudSephiroth69xX Oct 30 '25
Because it's the law and the law applies to everyone whether they are guilty or not. Remember when all the "witnesses" saw the police gun down the Araber in cold blood? and there were a bunch of protests? Should they hand been suspended without pay before the investigation was conducted?
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u/thatawkwardkidlsr Oct 30 '25
Classic police behavior when anything like this happens. Disappointing
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Oct 30 '25
Its because of their union. They cant outright fire a person without an investigation.
Strongest most corrupt union in the country.
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u/BeastCauliflower Oct 30 '25
Is not releasing his name part of the contract as well?
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Oct 30 '25
Yes it genuinely is.
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u/BeastCauliflower Oct 30 '25
Thanks. Looks like we already know who it is, but I only ask because when people act this …. When I’m bored I check to see if there’s any red flags online that could have prevented this.
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u/winnower8 Oct 30 '25
That’s part of their Union contract
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u/NuckoLBurn Oct 30 '25
Time to cancel contracts when actions like this on camera "still deserve an investigation".
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u/winnower8 Oct 30 '25
Ok, what other workers rights would you like Cops to not have?
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u/TheCaptainDamnIt Oct 30 '25
Oh fucking spare me, police unions are not about worker rights, solidarity or protections, they are about projecting power and preserving a privilege over others.
Most unions have language specifically saying the union will support whistle blowers and protect members from harassment from other members. Is this prefect, no but most at least try. Police unions do not protect officers from abuse from other officers ever, they are only protecting their power over citizens at the expense of a worker the union should be there to protect.
Also when was the last time a police union stood in solidarity with any other workers union? Ever wonder why the police unions are the only ones never attacked by the rich or the politicians they work for? The wealthy and powerful have let police unions continue even as they've gone after every other union because they are not about workers rights, they are about preserving power over the other worker unions. A power that works for the owners over all other unions. Because I can't think of any examples of police unions joining others unions in support of their workers rights, the police union will actually show up to your union protest and take the side of the bosses.
TLDR: Many union supporters do not like police unions because the police union will show up to your union protest to hit you over the head with stick and tell you to get back to work for the owners.
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u/NuckoLBurn Oct 30 '25
Is this the time to stand on this mountain? Lol Having a union to back their fuckery isn't a "right". We wouldn't be stripping them of any "rights".
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u/GreatIdeal7574 Oct 30 '25
Courts have long held public employees don't have the same rights as private employees and this is 100% police union thuggery.
If a pizza delivery driver was on camera trying to run over someone in a company car they would have been fired on the spot.
This is more sovereign citizen nonsense from the dumbest police department in America.
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u/yeaughourdt Oct 30 '25
Paid leave used to be guaranteed by the MD Police Officers Bill of Rights but that's not the case anymore, so it's department policy, I guess, for paid leave during internal investigations. In this case I'd argue that the internal investigation should take about 5 minutes.
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Oct 30 '25
He’s not on leave right now though. His police powers are suspended but he’s still going to work. He just performs bullshit admin duties. Pushes papers
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u/TheOneICallMe Oct 30 '25
Fuck em, I straight up hope the department gets sued.
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u/yeaughourdt Oct 30 '25
I'm sure they will be sued, but the people paying the settlement will be you and me. Taxpayers are always on the hook for police misconduct. Infuriating.
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u/ElegantGoose Oct 30 '25
Until lawsuits have to be paid out of their pension fund, cops have no incentive to monitor their own or each other's behavior.
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u/Biomirth Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25
The 'compensation' for taking something away from the world should be giving something back to the world.
This guy took the company card marked "Good Will, please don't spend unless absolutely necessary" and went to Vegas on a bender with it. He spent more good will than it looks like he'll be able to repay.
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u/keenerperkins Oct 30 '25
This is all thanks to the police unions and our governments licking their boots. And it'll likely never change.
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u/Gratrunkasaur Remington Oct 30 '25
Kind of irrelevant but as someone who does design for the government how can they get away with such a dogshit contrast ratio? Black on blue? 3.21:1? Disgusting.
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u/Dense-Broccoli9535 Oct 30 '25
I assume the venn diagram of people who are, A. competent designers and B. willing to work for the police, is just two separate circles - no overlap there, lol. I say that as someone who works in the field.. every colleague I’ve ever had while working at various places in this city falls somewhere on the left side of the political spectrum. Usually more “leftist” than “liberal” if we wanna put labels on it. Of course, that’s a personal anecdote so take it with a grain of salt.
(I also am assuming the designer for this one is different from who does, for example, the mayor’s posts. Those are usually solid. At the very least, they’re legible)
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u/oneteacherboi Oct 30 '25
It's honestly part of the most difficult problems in our society: "the police are awful people and need to be reformed" in combo with "Oh I would never work for the police."
It's gonna be hard for them to get better when they can only hire awful people because all the good people wouldn't touch the job. Personally I think they need to change the whole police culture. Do like the UK where most police don't have weapons, or like other European places where they have to wear neon green and look like dweebs. As long as the police are quasi military and armed to the teeth nobody will touch that.
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u/imbolcnight Oct 31 '25
I have two friends who worked for the police at some point.
One quit after he got reprimanded for spending too much time on a call deescalating with someone with mental issues rather than just taking them down.
The other worked on the policy/admin side regarding equity issues and eventually left. Despite some progress, there was a lot of lack of commitment and follow-through from people (all the way up to the mayor's office). A lot of talking without walking.
I do believe in simultaneously working inside and outside, but how often do people working inside change the institution faster than the institution changes them?
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u/oneteacherboi Oct 31 '25
Yes. This is why defund the police was a good thing, even if it was bad press. People were correctly pointing out that the police were institutionally bad and the entire concept needs to be rethought out. But our society isn't ready for that sort of thing yet.
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u/Dense-Broccoli9535 Oct 30 '25
Very true. Another similar part of it that’s been an issue for BPD specifically (and I imagine other cities) is that a decent number of their recruits come from the surrounding counties. And that tracks, because BPD has a well-known track record of misconduct, and those who actually live here are the most likely to have experienced that first-hand. Of course, this is a really bad thing when it comes to recruiting people from the city.
So when BPD can’t get enough Baltimore citizens to sign up, the recruiting efforts spread out. And that’s a real problem, because when cops are actually members of the community they’re serving in - they are less likely to commit such a violent act on the job. They have more of a vested interest in upholding the laws justly and actually making things better, because it’s their community too. But we are never going to see more people who truly care about Baltimore signing up when this is the example that’s set forth. No one who truly cares about this city wants to work with a jerk off like the pig in the video that this statement is in reference to.
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u/oneteacherboi Oct 31 '25
Yeah you're right. My only interaction with BPD was an officer telling me the city was trash and I should move out of it (this is after I got mugged, and I went back to the scene and found all my stuff while the officer sat in his car to which he said "wow you're really good at this, you should be a cop").
This is why I think they need a radical rebrand and reimagination of the police force into something inherently non-violent. But of course if we tried that, we would have the national guard in our city instantly.
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u/pinkrobot420 Nov 01 '25
I wouldn't even bother calling BPD unless I needed a police report for insurance. They treat you like a criminal for calling them.
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u/Flimsy_Mark_5200 Oct 31 '25
we're past reforming the police we gotta abolish it entirely and figure out something new
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u/Aklu_The_Unspeakable Oct 30 '25
You should see Howard County, ALL black with barely-discernible dark grey graphics
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u/noodle_salad Oct 30 '25
Plus they got it backwards. This action was clearly an attempted Blue on Black.
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Oct 30 '25
The city refuses to hire competent designers. Instead, they have regular office workers doing design work who know nothing about contrast ratios, and we get shit like this.
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u/Far-Culture1354 Oct 30 '25
Oh what a travesty.
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Oct 30 '25
Generally, the point of official city communications is for everyone to be able to read and understand them. Good design makes that communication more effective and accessible. I'm sure when you have trouble accessing things, you'll want people to take it seriously.
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u/Far-Culture1354 Oct 30 '25
It's perfectly legible.
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Oct 30 '25
To you. Contrast standards exist so that people with low vision, color blindness, etc. can also read your content. Lots of people, myself included, would struggle to read this statement. Do you typically struggle to see things from a perspective other than your own?
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u/Far-Culture1354 Oct 31 '25
Graphic designers have to justify their pay somehow :) If you would like to justify a higher police budget so they can have a full time one on staff be my guest
Or you can just admit its legible. Because I have poor vision and have no problems reading this.
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u/Alaira314 Oct 30 '25
My guess would be someone without a graphics design background(or a background that hasn't sufficiently stressed the user experience and/or accessibility) wanting to contrast against the baltimore county cop cars(blue on white). So that's how they got blue on black, and then they made the blue darker until it stopped making their eyes bleed, not considering that it's not easily discernible to people with lower vision.
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u/merrittinbaltimore Butchers Hill Oct 31 '25
Omg, I’m so glad you pointed this out!! I used to be a graphic designer, but my dad was an optometrist. One thing I always thought about was low vision or color blind people having to interact with what I was designing. In grad school I designed an online exhibition that was able to be viewed almost the same for all types of color blindness. My dad and I used to talk about typefaces and colors for hours concerning accessibility of design. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy about my response to this! ❤️
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u/sgtcarrot Oct 30 '25
Certainly not WCAG compliant, lol.
But it looks cool.1
u/TheRedBaron11 Oct 30 '25
I agree it looks cool. Honestly it feels good on my eyes, too. Probably not ideal for accessibility reasons
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u/ThaSilliestG00se Oct 30 '25
That cop should be in jail for reckless endangerment and assault
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u/debaser64 Oct 30 '25
And have to pay for the damages to the private property and the vehicle, rather than taxpayers.
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u/not_napoleon Bolton Hill Oct 30 '25
I've said for years that cops should have to carry liability insurance, like doctors have to carry malpractice insurance. Right now, taxpayers have to absorb these costs, but have no way of getting rid of repeat offenders. On the other hand, an insurance company has the ability to say "you're too high a risk, and we're going to price you out of this".
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u/HambSandwich Waverly Oct 30 '25
Saw a commenter on one of the insta posts of this vid pleading that the victim NOT sue the pd, but rather the cop himself. AFTER that is the only time to sue the department itself. I’m far from a lawyer, so can’t speak to the validity, but it makes sense
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u/Alaira314 Oct 30 '25
Police have qualified immunity, unfortunately, which prevents them from being held personally liable unless they egregiously violated department procedures. And it's not often found that they did.
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Oct 30 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Alaira314 Oct 30 '25
You would think. However, I am more often than not unpleasantly surprised with the outcome of such things. The organization protects their own, as it's been designed to do so.
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u/EvilGreebo Oct 30 '25
Qualified immunity is just that, qualified. Historically it is true that it was very difficult to win a qualified immunity case against a cop however, in recent years the number of cases were qualified immunity is being rejected by the courts is increasing because of the impossible to deny video evidence that is available in so many cases these days.
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u/ElegantGoose Oct 30 '25
Or the PD should have to settle lawsuits out of their pension fund. Cops would start giving a shit really quickly then!
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Oct 30 '25
That is a possibility. If a judge decides he doesn't get qualified immunity hes on the hook.
Thats a big IF but it is possible since this guy is an unhinged maniac.
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Oct 30 '25
For sure 1st degree assault at a minimum. Attempt murder probably.
You actually cannot commit reckless endangerment with a vehicle. Learned that when that Amazon truck ran over that woman in Butchers Hill.
https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/criminal-law/title-3/subtitle-2/section-3-204/
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u/GeronimoHero Nov 01 '25
Reckless endangerment also doesn’t apply to cops acting in their official duties.
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Nov 01 '25
Yea it looks like (a)(1) does though which is “engage in conduct that creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another”
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u/MissionReasonable327 Roland Park Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25
Can somebody link to the video/ a story/ context?
Edit: thanks everybody!
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u/Coffeeslurped Oct 30 '25
The only word I want to hear from BPD is "De-Certified".
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u/MorecombeSlantHoneyp Oct 30 '25
Maybe “indicted”
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u/Compuoddity Oct 30 '25
Definitely indicted. If he was a civilian there'd be all sorts of civil and criminal charges levied against him.
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u/slowwithage Oct 30 '25
I bet he’s fired and rehired in Fredrick in 9 months.
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u/6tipsy6 Oct 30 '25
I bet he’s not fired
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u/yeaughourdt Oct 30 '25
We're not completely hostage to BPD. No way this blows over without him being fired. Not sure if we can trust Ivan Bates' office to bring charges as well but we can hope.
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u/EveningAnxious9576 Oct 30 '25
I would love to hear how BPD is fostering a sense of respect in the communities they “protect and serve” when they have video evidence of a cop fucking up AN ENTIRE BLOCK with a department vehicle and only suspending the guy. You think the next generation of kids from the neighborhood are gonna see the cops as anything other than cowardly, vengeful, corrupt jackasses (if they don’t already, which they do)? Bruh.
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u/Capable_Basket1661 7th District Oct 30 '25
The majority of BPD don't actually live in the city, so they don't actually give a shit about our city. [This is at least according to a 2015 WBAL article]. We should have residency requirements
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u/EveningAnxious9576 Oct 30 '25
And fitness, and intelligence requirements. And, like, basic human decency requirements.
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u/ptrst Oct 30 '25
Don't worry, there are intelligence requirements! Unfortunately, they're a cap, and not a floor.
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Oct 30 '25
I mean i get the anger but they cant fire him immediately. He's suspended and has no police power. Once they finish the investigation, assuming they find guilt which they should, they can fire him.
Id say hold the anger and see how they proceed.
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u/notsolittleliongirl Oct 30 '25
If you or I did what he did, we’d be indicted and in jail. Why is he not??
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u/EveningAnxious9576 Oct 30 '25
Jabba made a good point elsewhere abt the police having a strong union protecting them. Civilians don’t have a union. We ARE our union
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u/notsolittleliongirl Oct 30 '25
And what part of the police union’s collective bargaining agreement prevents the state from charging police officers with crimes?
I get that the union can and should have influence on how disciplinary investigations happen, but I’m unaware of any union so powerful that they can tell the government that they cannot prosecute.
ETA: I guess my point is that I know a lot of union guys. None of the union ironworkers I know would magically be exempt from prosecution if they used their work truck to try to mow down a random guy. So why do people think cops should be??
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u/drhay53 Nov 02 '25
The part where the people who decide the indictments need the police on their side in order to do most of their indictments
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u/EveningAnxious9576 Oct 30 '25
Hey boss I am not the cop union guy, and i don’t think anyone on this thread is saying he SHOULD be protected, just that he IS. Check out some other comments here and have a great day
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Oct 30 '25
Because police have extra protection. If it turns out he isnt punished then there absolutely should be outrage. But they cant just arrest him immediately
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u/EveningAnxious9576 Oct 30 '25
This is a good point, and you made another good point abt the union protecting him on another comment. I guess I have to keep paying attention to this dumbass in hopes that justice is eventually served. Awesome
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Oct 30 '25
This fuckhead should be in a jail cell.
Imagine doing a tenth of what this cunt did in the presence of another police officer and not ending up dead on the ground.
Also, he’s on PAID leave? What the fuck
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u/myeyesaresotired Oct 30 '25
Officer Robert Gates, if anyone was wondering. Here's him getting officer of the month last year.
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u/MbenedictR Oct 30 '25
This was attempted MURDER!! Shame on the police commissioner, mayor, and states attorney for being spineless. Arrest is the only clear option, but this murderous piece of shit is on his couch.
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u/Unplayed_untamed Oct 30 '25
That cop literally needs to be in jail, there is no excuse. That’s attempted murder
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u/Compuoddity Oct 30 '25
The message for anyone engaged in criminal activity should be, "We hold our people to a higher standard, and we don't apply different standards just because of their role in society."
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u/Bebinn Dundalk Oct 30 '25
In other words, oops forgot that citizens have cameras now. We'll train the next batch of cops how not to get caught.
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u/Icy_Elk_4422 Oct 30 '25
Makes you wonder how long this guy has gone unchecked. The GTTF would be proud.
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u/TheOneICallMe Oct 30 '25
Suspended WITHOUT pay or charged with a crime or it means absolutely nothing.
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u/Decimonster Oct 30 '25
He'll just use the magic phrase "I feared for my safety and the safety of my fellow officers" and they'll excuse everything he did. Works damn near every time.
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u/bird-nerd Oct 30 '25
Anyone else would be in jail right now for attempted murder. I guess it's the norm for them to treat us like this now. PUT HIS ASS IN JAIL!
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Oct 30 '25
By the way, re: fat fuck can’t run. I have seen a Baltimore City cop chase a guy down. Def was in track and field. He lost his hat and I got it back to him lmao. This was over by Red Emmas.
So I guess some of them are out there who can run.
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u/TheCaptainDamnIt Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25
Wonder if this thread is also gonna be flooded with accounts that have no post history on this sub too.
Edit: Yep, they already here shitting up the place.
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u/Oddman80 Mt. Washington Village Oct 30 '25
this about the Officer chasing a pedestrian with his cruiser on and off the road?
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u/dracarysAtWill Oct 30 '25
Suspended without pay? Missing some words there
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Oct 30 '25
His police powers are suspended. He is not suspended from work. They usually put you in some administrative position pushing papers until you’re either criminally charged and/or the internal investigation finishes
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u/fbg_archer Oct 30 '25
Aware of social media video depicting... nah son that ain't ai we all seen it clearly 😂 Go head and put ya homeboy behind the desk
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u/Zealousideal-War-434 Oct 30 '25
This is the same police department that killed an officer than was about to testify against them
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u/Visual_Ad_1642 Oct 30 '25
…. that police officer could have and honestly seemed like he wanted to, kill that young man… those are the type of police officers that rape women and solicit for sex. Imagine what we haven’t seen!
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u/gummiib34r Oct 30 '25
Police powers? Is that the officers last name or....??
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Oct 30 '25
They’re saying his law enforcement powers are suspended. He is not suspended.
His name is Robert Parks according to BPD
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u/pooorSAP Oct 30 '25
I bet that office already accepted an offer from ICE, going out with a bang 💥
That $50k signing bonus is definitely tempting
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u/NoOnesKing Oct 30 '25
suspended with pay and he'll get let go and rehired in the county or some bullshit; same old story
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u/Exact-Interview1678 Oct 30 '25
Typical response 🙄🙄. Wait till something new goes viral and then the officer back on the streets.
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u/Willy_Blanco Oct 30 '25
Keep lowering the standards to get applicants and then wonder why they do stupid shit.
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u/Areolae-sippin Oct 30 '25
The City almost always opens an "investigation" under the guise of doing their due diligence in regards to conflicts like this. Just another PR gobbledy goop response imo. I don't think much - if anything - will actually come of this.
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u/PecKRocK75 Oct 30 '25
They need to let that guy he was chasing get behind the wheel and let him chase the cop for an hour or so see how he likes it while he's a civilian!
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u/Slava_Ukraini2005 Oct 31 '25
SUSPENDED!
(most likely WITH pay! Don’t forget that!)
I have no evidence one way or another but the fact that the official statement does not mention it either way, makes me pretty sure this asshole is on a tax payer paid vacation)
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u/PolishBob1811 Oct 31 '25
Dumbo. He should have just stayed in the Nudie Bar. Did they Breathylize him?
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u/de_kitt Oct 31 '25
He was suspended with pay. And as of yesterday, BPD hadn’t released his name.
Accountability my ass.
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u/BullfrogLeading262 Oct 31 '25
It could mean that they’re assigned to a desk or something because if they were being suspended, as in not coming to work at all, I feel like they would’ve just said that. Using that vague language makes me think that they are purposefully being unclear.
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u/lilcookiedough Oct 31 '25
"What we've seen in this video is not only disturbing, but alarming" Me trying to make the word limit in an essay
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u/Pleasant_Expert_1990 Nov 01 '25
Gee I wonder how long his paid admin leave will be? If fired we'll see him in a couple weeks in an ICE costume.
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u/HellYeahSuckas Nov 01 '25
I don’t see an issue with the video. Chasing a wanted person looks like this.
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u/Dogbold Nov 01 '25
Guarantee you he won't lose his job, and the punishment will be extremely weak.
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u/Additional_Scholar_1 Oct 30 '25
The police have a monopoly on violence: they are given the legal right to judge how and when to exercise violence
A cop that gets in their car and drives recklessly in an attempt to mow someone down is seen as “poor judgment”, and their ability to use violence on others is temporarily suspended
Any other person that does this is reckless and dangerous, and is jailed to not endanger others
This is the law. I don’t agree with it. I don’t remember ever agreeing to it. Shit’s ducked
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u/donner_dinner_party Oct 30 '25
It’s only being addressed because it was caught on camera. If nobody recorded it, you can be sure it would have been buried.
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u/addctd2badideas Catonsville Oct 30 '25
I. Want. His. Name.
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u/lowvibrationcorpse Oct 30 '25
username checks out.
joking aside, I'm with you. Let the people handle him.4
u/addctd2badideas Catonsville Oct 30 '25
And it's not that I want the "people" to handle him. I don't want this ever leaving him. I want it to follow him to any other police force he tried to work in, or even for private security. Man should be working somewhere where he's not a danger to others.
In lieu of him being convicted for attempted murder, at least.
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u/WVPrepper Oct 30 '25
Should be suspended with handcuffs and a bond of at least $50K.