The Baltimore Police — officials, union leaders, and officers themselves — are coming forward to confirm my analysis of the situation last week. As one person told the Baltimore Sun, “They’re not afraid of dying. They’re afraid of going to jail.”
See also the interview with two officers on CNN:
The officers are afraid to do things, because you have a State’s Attorney right now that’s unpredictable. You don’t know what she’s going to do. When she came out with the statement, when the six officers were charged, she already convicted them in the public view. They have been tried and convicted in public opinion…
Q: Do you feel like those officers acted appropriately?
A: They’ve done nothing different than what we’ve always done as police officers on the street. Those type of arrests happen on a daily basis.
Q: … You would have done the same thing?
O1: Absolutely. It’s being compliant. If you are compliant, you will not have to be engaged by officers. Force has to be used with equal force. If you’re not compliant, you know, that is why police were able to restrain subjects that are non-compliant. The officers did nothing wrong.