Baltimore Police Department Insists Morale Is Improving, Hiring Efforts Are Working
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Police Department insists morale is getting better as it works to reform itself and fill hundreds of job vacancies.
As the city struggles with crime -- at least 23 homicides have occurred since the beginning of 2020 -- the chair of Maryland's Commission to Restore Trust in Policing, which is monitoring the department's reform efforts in the wake of the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, wants to know if officers are on board with fighting the violence.
"Is there any more to that rumor that officers were not arresting people in Baltimore City?" Judge Alexander Williams, the committee's chair, asked BPD representatives during a commission meeting in Annapolis Monday.
In response, BPD director of government affairs Michelle Wirzberger said the men and women of the department "come to work every single day determined to keep people safe."
She admitted early in the consent decree reform process officers were frustrated.
"We couldn't even talk about the policies because the officers wanted to vent, they were so angry, they were so beaten down," Wirzberger said.
The department said those attitudes are now changing.
"Consistent inconsistency; there's been a lot of leadership turnover, a lot of new special projects and (if) they think the consent decree is one of them well it's not. It's not going anywhere," BPD administrative policy analyst Paul Mincarelli said.
BPD is also trying to beef up its ranks; the number of new hires was down by 28 in 2019 compared with the prior year.
It has seen success so far this year, though: 14 new positions were filled in the first two weeks of January.
The department has invested in new recruiting videos and changed the way promotions are handled, admitting the process was not always fair.
BPD has also put its public service exam online and waived the $50 fee for city residents and said it's committed to hiring more women and minority applicants.
