Baltimore has paid about $5.7 million since 2011 over lawsuits claiming that police officers brazenly beat up alleged suspects, the Baltimore Sun reports. Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations. The victims, most of them African-Americans, range in age from a 15-year-old boy to an 87-year-old grandmother.
Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones, head trauma, organ failure, and even death during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed. In almost every case, prosecutors or judges dismissed the charges against the victims — if charges were filed at all.