by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
February 11, 2024
Freddie Gray, 25, died in 2015 of injuries suffered while in police custody.
Capt. Alicia White, the Baltimore Police Captain who was charged for her involvement in the 2015 arrest and death of Freddie Gray, has been promoted to the department’s Public Integrity Bureau. She is set to take on the position, overseeing misconduct allegations, on Feb. 11.
On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Black man, was detained by the Baltimore Police Department for possessing a knife within legal limits. During his time in police custody, Gray suffered severe injuries and was transported to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Gray passed away on April 19, 2015, with his death attributed to injuries sustained to his cervical spinal cord.
According to the Baltimore Sun, White’s appointment was reviewed by an interview committee, which selected two commanders of the force to take on this next level of duty and were formally approved by the city’s police commissioner. White will be part of the Investigative section, where fellow officers or the general public can complain about the police.
White, who was a lieutenant at the time of Gray’s death, was a supervisor who saw Gray after his arrest, at a point in which he was already injured. According to the city’s then-state attorney Marilyn Mosby, who launched a case against six officers in the matter, White did not properly investigate the arrest or his injuries. White has maintained that when she asked Gray about any issues, his lack of response led her to believe he was uncooperative and no further assistance was needed.
“Unfortunately, that day someone lost their life,” White said in 2016. “But I feel like everything I was trained to do, I did.”
Despite the claims by Mosby that White inadequately handled Gray’s arrest and ultimately played a role in his death, former commissioner Kevin Davis dropped White’s charges in 2017. She was promoted to her role as Captain in August 2022.
In the aftermath of the controversial case, the Baltimore Police Department was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016, which determined that the agency failed to uphold proper training and accountability toward officers for not abiding by guidelines. Upon changes being made to their processes, the Public Integrity Bureau will undergo a compliance assessment to ensure systemic improvements are enacted.
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