Anthony Anderson = homicided

The Med Examiner has ruled Anthony Anderson's death a homicide from blunt-force injury and primarily a pulmonary contusion (bruised lung), fractured ribs, hemorrhaged tissues, a torn spleen and blood from those injuries filling his guts (hemoperitoneum) -- not an overdose or by choking on .
swallowed drugs as the BPD initially reported, though police do say "morphine" was in his system 

(yes, not "opiates," "morphine" in particular. Is the toxicology report finished? If so, where is it?)   Here's the autopsy report released by the family & uploaded by Fenton, and the Fenton story... you may recall that our new presumptive police chief resigned in Oakland after a court found that his department had failed to implement court-ordered policies to control police abuses, that citizens who complained about it faced "cavalier rejection" of their complaints, and that "the agency misused an early-warning system that flags officers who frequently use force or generate citizen complaints." Baltimore, of course, doesn't even have a public system by which to track or address such complaints to begin with, unless you count our citizen review board that's sworn to secrecy and has zero power, or the invisible-to-us internal police "administrative reviews" that the department openly admits take "months or years*" to complete.  

Sooo, why did Oakland get to have federal court oversight and Baltimore never has? We had the "Flex Squad" in the SW planting drugs and framing people,* just like Oakland's "Riders." We've had officers shot in chaotic no-clear-lines-of command incidents,* just like Oakland. So why did the Oakland PD get total federal oversight and Baltimore has never gotten more than a federal visit or two?
In other news, plans for the new youth jail soldier on.* (remind me, is it federal or local money building this jail?)

And thank you Kevin Rector, finally*-- after a slew of confusing rape/ abuction stories a little clarity: three sex assault/ kidnapping/ robbery victims, two perps -- Kenyon Waller and William Campbell -- who're both now in jail. The first incident of a teen kidnapped at gunpoint off the street then robbed and sexually assaulted was Sept. 25, but as far as I can tell only the Catonsville Patch reported it. Wonder why. I'd throw in a dab of snark here about how if it had happened to a blonde girl in Towson you wouldn't have been able to eat your Cheerios without hearing Don Scott recount every filthy little detail, but my outrage fatigue is acting up.

Fifteen years for Timothy Dennison, 22, who bought "sham cocaine" from an ICE Homeland Security Investigations agent (whatever happened to the DEA?)

A scathing report from the Senate found that the Department of Homeland Security has spent about a billion dollars to spy on citizens, while thwarting not a single terrorist attack. Next (or probably already) from Homeland Security: automatically tracking everyone's car's movements using license-plate scanning technology. Grouses a proprietor of a for-profit license tracking service, "I take absolute exception to any government telling me that I can't go into public and take video ... that's taking my freedoms away." 

What's that aboot eh?

So Batts' first move as presumptive commissioner was to hire Judy Pal, right, as his communications pro.* Pal was born in Canada and has held jobs with a bunch of police agencies, as well as with Madison Square Garden and the Labatt Brewery of Ontario. Fenton and LinkedIn report that most of her jobs she stayed in for only about a year (and between the time that I started this post until I finished, the security was changed on her LinkedIn profile-- I saved it from the cache and uploaded screenshots here). According to her bio with the Public Agency Training Council, she has "extensive communications experience dealing with sensitive and image-threatening issues such as criminal conduct of police officers, international scandal, fractured community and media relations..." which will no doot come in handy. According to a speaker bio she is also "credited with re-tooling the image of the largest police department in Atlantic Canada." Yesterday Batts was also quietly sworn in as an officer-- the only photo appears to be from somebody's cell phone. He'll officially be be commissioner after the City Council confirms him. Sounds like there's no question that that'll happen, though I think there are some quality reasons to have questions about this guy, eh?

Rage on the East Side after the death of Anthony Anderson,* 46, the guy who police at first said choked on drugs he was swallowing to avoid arrest, then amended to say "its not clear whether he OD'd or died another way." According to witnesses, the "other way" was Anderson was run up on from behind by officers, who lifted him "as high as a basketball hoop" and slammed him to the ground and kicked him. Police acknowledge he had at least one broken bone; autopsy results are pending. Fox has video of citizens and the Baltimore Peoples {sic} Assembly protesting yesterday.

The Ink has details on last week's seven murders

Stephen Gerwitz is back in court for the trial of Sydney Brewer-- sounds like the car Brewer allegedly stole was equipped with LoJack, hyuk

The Justice Policy Institute has a new report out on the various fucktifications of our city's fucktified bail system

The man shot by an officer in Dundalk near Merritt Point Park was ID'd as 22-year-old Joshua Lopez of La Marque, Texas.

Your usual burglaries and violent boyfriends and husbands in the SE Baltimore Guide Blotter, and eww, a woman on Eastern Avenue got pee in her house due to seepage after a drunk guy took a leak on her door.

Ed Ericsson reviews Michael A. Wood Jr.'s Eliot

The trial of Tom Kiefaber has been delayed til November; Kiefaber reportedly told the court he needs more time to arrange for a public defender because he's "basically homeless" 

Er... Kevin Kamenetz is blaming Brian Recher, owner of the Recher Theater, for the bad behavior of his patrons outside. (What would they have him do?) And bad news, ass-humping white girls, Recher responded by postponing the "Barstool Blackout" event that was scheduled for tonight "until this whole thing blows over." 

Interesting poll numbers this morning from Gonzales: 58 percent of MDers willing to opine to strangers on the telephone support the Dream Act (surprisingly high), expanded gambling is at a a virtual tie, and what WBAL is calling "same gender marriage" is favored by a mere 51 percent of poll-takers (which should be worrying to supporters, as people have a way of telling pollsters they support same-sex marriage then voting against it in the booth, aka the Bradley effect). Also the poll margin of error is 3.5 points, so, meh.