25 jail officers are indicted in Md. excessive force case

BALTIMORE — More than two dozen correctional officers in Baltimore were charged Tuesday with using excessive force on prisoners at state-operated jails in a city plagued by decades of institutional corruption, inside and outside jailhouse walls.

The 25 indicted officers are accused of assaulting and threatening detainees at correctional facilities, tampering with evidence and falsifying documents, said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Maryland corrections secretary Robert Green said all the indicted officers have been on administrative leave since 2018, when the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services began investigating the allegations.

Indicted officers used social media to publicly promote their “reputation and successes,” and they furtively used winks, nods and other body language to warn each other about the presence of supervisors and other ‘non-members,’ ” the indictment says.

Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement that his administration has no tolerance for corruption in the state’s correctional system.

“Our correctional officers have one of the most difficult jobs in all of public safety, and we will not let the criminal behavior of the few tarnish the great work of the nearly 5,000 dedicated officers who serve with distinction every single day,” he said.

Hogan, a Republican, said the department’s anti-corruption efforts have led to the arrests and convictions of more than 200 officers, inmates and “citizen accomplices.”

In 2015, Maryland closed the men’s section of a state-run Baltimore jail that was notorious for its decrepit conditions, criminal activity and corruption. In 2013, a federal indictment exposed a smuggling ring inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, involving dozens of gang members and officers.