DOJ holds first public forum on Baltimore police

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday night held its first public forum since it began an investigation into whether the Baltimore Police Department has habitually violated the civil rights of Baltimore's citizens.

"We are going to be very thorough and we are going to be fair," said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which is conducting the investigation. "We will be working from every side to hear from as many voices as we can. From police officers who are on the street, up the chain to the commissioner and mayor and elected officials. But the community has a very important and central role in this process."

Over the years, many Baltimore residents and activists have called for an investigation into police practices. The current effort is expected to take more than a year to complete, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The Justice Department's investigation will focus on whether the police department engages in a pattern of excessive force; unlawful stops, searches and arrests; and discrimination.

If the agency finds that the Baltimore police has violated the constitution, the embattled department could face a court-ordered consent decree.

The agency opened its investigation in May, shortly after the city erupted in unrest following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died from a spinal injury most likely caused when the police van he was riding in suddenly decelerated. Gray's death, a recent symbol of alleged police brutality against African-Americansacross the country, prompted widespread outrage, protests and riots in Baltimore.

Tim Mygatt, special counsel at the Civil Rights Division who will be leading the probe, explained to residents what the investigation will entail: interviews with police officers and citizens, as well as a review of thousands of documents and extensive data analysis.

Mygatt told residents that the investigation wasn't prompted by Gray's death, though any instance of police misconduct is "a piece of the investigation."

The Sun reported that investigators will follow up on every complaint, and that information from residents will remain confidential. They are “looking at the whole department,” said Mygatt, as quoted in the Sun.

"We don't open an investigation because of one incident," Mygatt said. "It's not just a single incident, it's not just a single event. It's something we're hearing from a whole variety of sources to make sure we have good cause and reasonable cause to investigate."

Residents who attended the forum at the University of Baltimore Law School broke up into small groups to speak one-on-one with agency attorneys about their experiences with the police.

Travis Robinson spoke with the attorneys, and told the Sun “It’s a step in the right direction. … I hope it goes somewhere and they focus on justice for people who are harassed by police.”

Al Jazeera with The Associated Press