'Secret' police
documents found'
Another twist rises in
Baltimore Police Department case on drug suspects
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(FinalCall.com)--The
secret location of the Baltimore Police Department Internal Affairs has
been discovered. To add insult to injury, someone robbed the facility of
documents and files critical to investigations of Baltimore�s finest.
The burglary took place on Christmas Eve. But just
as mysteriously as it happened, most of the things stolen were returned
only hours later. Jim Isbell
of Southeast Baltimore was searching dumpsters behind Dunkin Donuts
outside the city limits in Essex, Md., when he found two bags full of
police materials.
According
to Mr. Isbell, inside the bags were police personnel folders, files, a
city police officers� Rolodex, a city police flashlight, photos of
people under surveillance, mug shots, video tapes with names and addresses
and files marked �confidential-city police Internal Affairs section�.
Recognizing
a definite emergency, Mr. Isbell called 911. Four county officers
responded and carted the contents and Mr. Isbell off to the FBI where he
was questioned.
He
told reporters, �When they called the detective whose Rolodex it was,
they got real hush-hush about everything.
I got the impression that they didn�t get everything back that
they were looking for.�
The
entire burglary is has generated little comment by the Baltimore Police
Department. They have not disclosed how the burglary was discovered or
whom they�ve identified as suspects.
Speculations
abound as to whether or not this was an inside job since few people were
supposed to know about this hidden location. Some jokingly say that
finding the materials behind a donut shop proves it was an inside cop job.
The
case is being investigated as an inside job because of the things that
were stolen and the damage done to the computers, according to Baltimore
police spokesperson Ragina C. Averella.
�This
is just horrible. Those files should never have been kept in an offsite
location. It compromises the integrity of the officers who made
complaints as well as the cases they were investigating,� Sgt. Louis
Hopson told The Final Call.
One
of those cases in question involves Officer Brian L. Sewell.
He is the first case under Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris�
vigorous efforts to catch crooked cops.
Officer Sewell, a six-year veteran, was arrested in October and
charged with perjury and misconduct.
Officer
Sewell arrested Frederick L. McCoy, a Black man, and charged him with drug
possession. Officer Sewell�s charging documents explain that he saw Mr.
McCoy place drugs under a park bench and then ran when he saw the police
car.
But
Internal Affairs Division says that couldn�t have happened because the
department had placed the drugs as part of a sting operation. Critics
argue that the case has revealed how some police across the country plant
drugs on Black male suspects.
The
items stolen from the office included information from Officer Sewell�s
case, information that had not been turned over to the prosecution.
Officer Sewell will be arraigned this month.
The
police department issued a statement confirming the incident but no other
details. �Due to the
ongoing internal aspect of this investigation, the Police Department does
not wish to comment on the particulars of the case,� said Ms. Averella.
�Nisa
I. Muhammad
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