Maryland’s senators support federal probe

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski said Thursday that she and other members of Maryland’s congressional delegation support Baltimore’s mayor in asking for a broad federal investigation of whether city police engage in discriminatory patterns or practices — a request sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody last month.

The Democratic senator told U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch during a Senate subcommittee hearing that Lynch would get a letter later Thursday from the Maryland delegation supporting Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s request, made Wednesday.

“In many cities throughout the country, including my own city of Baltimore, the trust between community and police is broken. We must do all we can to restore that trust,” Mikulski said in a written statement.

The Justice Department has agreed to conduct the investigation, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press late Thursday. The announcement could be made as early as today, according to the person.

Rawlings-Blake has won support from other public officials and praise from legal experts for requesting the investigation after previously saying she was determined to fix the Baltimore Police Department’s problems herself.

A broad investigation by the Justice Department could eventually force the city to make changes under the oversight of an outside monitor.

Rawlings-Blake said she would accept outside intervention to repair fractured relations between the police and the public in a city that was torn by riots over Gray’s death.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, Baltimore City Council President Jack Young and the president of the city’s police union were among the public officials saying they welcomed the development.