Mayor, feds to announce consent decree for Baltimore police

BALTIMORE (AP) — Nearly two years after the death of a young black man in Baltimore police custody exposed systemic failures within the department that included excessive force, racial discrimination and illegal arrests, city and federal officials have agreed on reforms that can be enforced in court.

The decree is likely to require remedies for civil rights failures described in a Justice Department report last August that found officers were routinely stopping large numbers of people in poor, black neighborhoods for dubious reasons, and unlawfully arresting residents merely for speaking out in ways police deemed disrespectful.