“Six years after Baltimore established a review team to oversee reforms to sexual assault investigations, the Department of Justice reported evidence of continuing bias and failure to look into cases properly… [Investigators] found an email exchange in which a city prosecutor wrote to a police officer that an alleged victim ‘seems like a conniving little whore.’ ‘Lmao!’ the officer responded, using an internet abbreviation for laughter. ‘I feel the same.’” - Justin Fenton and Alison Knezevich, the Baltimore SunIn a scathing report released Wednesday, the US Department of Justice found that sexual assault investigations in Baltimore remain deeply flawed. The report points to evidence of bias—including the email exchange referenced above—as proof of the pernicious and systemic barrier to justice for victims of sex crimes. Additionally, the investigation indicated that Baltimore Police are designating inactive cases as “open” to shield them from external oversight and audits, including the audits of the Baltimore Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). For cases designated as "open," the police have refused to turn over documentation to auditors, citing vague "legal concerns." MCASA’s Executive Director, Lisae Jordan, Esq., commented on these issues for the Baltimore Sun.
“Jordan said city officials were ‘hiding’ behind the claim of legal concerns to withhold information. ‘As a lawyer, I'd like to see what the impediments are,’ she said, noting that counterparts in Philadelphia continue to have such access. ‘[MCASA] spends many hours of every day changing laws and public policy to make them better for sexual-assault survivors. If there's a law that needs changing, I'm happy to help change it.’” -Justin Fenton, the Baltimore SunThis practice of leaving cases "open" has also artificially decreased the department’s apparent rate of “unfounding” cases—a statistic that raised alarm bells back in 2010 when an investigation by the Baltimore Sun found that cases were being mislabeled and disregarded as “unfounded” at a rate that was five times the national average. By keeping cases "open," Baltimore's police department has created the illusion of progress while failing to improve conditions for survivors of sexual violence. The Baltimore Sun has published multiple articles on these issues, which include: City stymies efforts to review Baltimore police sexual assault investigations, advocates say Sexual assault investigations in Baltimore remain deeply flawed, DOJ says
