Baltimore police officials say their new heads of training and internal discipline — hires from outside the department — will help restore public trust in an agency marred by corruption and a “friendly-fire” incident in which an officer was killed, reports the Baltimore Sun. The additions of a former federal drug agent and a veteran police commander from Montgomery County, Md., prove his department is serious about improving, said Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld.
“We know we have in some areas, in some communities, and with some officers, an estranged, broken relationship,” Bealefeld said. “I’m relying on these two.” Bealefeld said Grayling Williams, the new head of the Internal Investigation Division, which handles complaints of abuse, excessive force, and other improprieties on the 3,100-member force, will put a public face on efforts to regain credibility. The hires, made with input from a state police training commission and an advisory board of citizens who help investigate officer misconduct, came incidents last year that threatened confidence in the department.