The Baltimore Police Department is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons. A Baltimore Police Officer recently resigned after a disturbing video shows him repeatedly punching a civilian.
After the video first surfaced the Baltimore Police Department suspended the officer, while they internally launched an investigation into the assault. Baltimore Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said he accepted the resignation of the officer on August 12, 2018 after viewing the cell-phone video and the body-camera footage of the violent incident. Commissioner Tuggle said “The public video is extremely disappointing to me. I don’t think that there was any room for the activity that I saw on that, and it is extremely disturbing.”
The former officer who graduated from the Police Academy last spring and joined the department in April is under criminal investigation for suspicion of second-degree assault. The name of the officer under investigation was not released.
The reason for the altercation even taking place was because the officer in question was working on a crime-suppression initiative and asked the victim for identification. Police said that the situation escalated when he refused to show ID.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh released the following statement regarding the incident.
“I have seen the very disturbing video of an encounter between a Baltimore City Police officer and Baltimore City resident and have demanded answers and accountability. I am in close contact with Interim Commissioner Tuggle who has not only suspended the officer in question but has launched an immediate investigation into the full circumstances of this encounter. We are working day and night to bring about a new era of community-based, Constitutional policing and will not be deterred by this or any other instance that threatens our efforts to re-establish the trust of all citizens in the Baltimore Police Department.”