Silke Jasso
Baltimore’s top prosecutor was caught off guard Wednesday, dismissing suggestions she doesn’t support city police.
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In a press conference, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby talked up recent arrests and prosecutions of a serial rapist and other repeat offenders now facing long sentences that she attributed to the relationship between her office and police, as Fox Nation reports.
When she took questions, a Fox reporter asked her about accusations from rank and file Baltimore officers that she does not support them.
“I come from five generations of police officers,” she said. “That’s absurd. Of course I have – I work with the police department. We rely on the police department to get these violent repeat offenders off of our streets. That’s absurd.”
The reporter tried to follow-up with a question about whether she’s considered recusing herself in the prosecution of six officers linked to the death of Freddie Gray (as the defense has asked), but she didn’t respond and instead walked away.
The question may have been linked to a CNN report, where anonymous officers said they felt let down by police and city leadership and worried that they would be prosecuted for doing their jobs in good faith.
“The criminal element feels as though that we’re not going to run the risk of chasing them if they are armed with a gun, and they’re using this opportunity to settle old beefs, or scores, with people that they have conflict with,” the officer said. “I think the public really, really sees that they asked for a softer, less aggressive police department, and we have given them that, and now they are realizing that their way of thinking does not work.”
When the officers were charged last month, Mosby made time during her statement to offer an olive branch to rank and file officers, saying the charges “are not an indictment on the entire force” and noting her own family’s background in law enforcement.
“I can tell you that the actions of these officers will not and should not, in any way, damage the important working relationships between police and prosecutors as we continue to fight together to reduce crime in Baltimore,” she said then. “Thank you for your courage, committee and sacrifice for the betterment of the community.”
