2022 marked Baltimore's 8th straight year surpassing 300 homicides.
For the majority of those years, the Baltimore Police Department has been under a federal consent decree.
Since 2017, BPD has been working to implement required changes to the Department after an investigation by federal law enforcement determined the agency had engaged in unconstitutional policing.
Fast forward to now, while acknowledging BPD's progress with compliance, Judge Bredar pointed out police reform, this community policing model has not translated to a reduction in gun violence here in Baltimore.
"The village idiot could see this coming," said former BPD Commissioner Ed Norris.
Norris firmly believes that's because the consent decree has led to hands-off policing, and changing that would yield a reduction in crime.
"This is not a community policing model by any stretch, despite what they might want to call it. This is a nice euphemism for hands-off policing. This has not worked because it has actually done the opposite. It's actually causing much of the gun violence," said Norris.
"I read the consent decree. They basically prevent the police from doing anything. They don’t want to put their hands on anybody. If they unholster their gun they have to fill out a use of force report," Norris added.
In fact, the Judge specifically asked BPD if the Department investigates when an officer did not use force, and maybe should.
The Commissioner answered yes.
"That’s the question?" reacted Norris. "Are they using enough force now in the street?"
Norris said he believes the reported decrease in civilian complaints against BPD officers isn't necessarily a positive.
"Civilian complaints went down. Police officer-involved shootings went down. Yeah, they’re not engaging anyone. Who is going to complain if they're not getting arrested? What are they complaining about?" said Norris.