Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JULY 2016 27 John Nero, center left, and Edward Nero, center right, brother and father of Officer Edward Nero, one of six Baltimore City police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, are escorted out of a courthouse after Officer Nero was acquitted of all charges in his trial in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) by Peter Moskos and Leon Taylor B altimore City Po- lice Officer Edward Nero was acquitted on all charges he faced in connection to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Mr. Nero, who had but a tangential role in Gray’s de- tention, should never have been charged. He commit- ted no crime. Certainly there have been and will continue to be cases of police misconduct. These incidents, while rare considering the overall number of police-citizen contacts, need to be high- lighted and condemned. But many of the narratives being held against police are simply false. Like the rest of us, Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore City’s elected state’s attorney, saw an ugly video and perhaps assumed police seriously injured Gray while taking him into custody. Gray later died and there were riots in Baltimore. Once the streets were quiet, Ms. Mosby boldly took credit for bringing peace to Baltimore by charg- ing officers who happened to be on scene before Freddie Gray was fatally injured in police custody. The prosecutor, in her desire to achieve “justice” for Freddie Gray, wanted somebody — anybody it seems — to pay for his death. But justice doesn’t work that way. And the ill-conceived effort to pin the blame on these six officers has at best distracted from and at worst exacerbated Baltimore’s most pressing problems. Ms. Mosby first claimed police had no legal justifica- tion to chase, stop, frisk, or arrest Gray. But Ms. Mosby was wrong. Her office now concedes that the pursuit of Gray, who ran from police at a drug corner, was legal. So was Gray’s initial detention. This is indisputable. Ms. Mosby quietly dropped charges of illegal imprisonment, but despite clear evidence of no crime, she continued with the criminal prosecution of six officers on other charges. We also know, based on the medical examiner’s re- port, that Gray was fine going into the van. He went limp. And then Continued on page 36 Justice is served Prosecutor’s decisions make a bad situation much worse for all interested parties I n, New Jersey recent- ly, three state troopers saved a woman’s life in a dramatic rescue involving an armed assailant with a knife. State Police said in a state- ment that the division re- ceived a 911 call from a Wantage Township woman, but when asked “what is your emergency” there was no reply. Dispatchers could hear a woman screaming in the background. When officers arrived at the scene, they too could hear the screaming. They broke the door down and found Christo- pher Davidson, 41, pinning the woman down with a knife to her throat. The woman had cuts on her face and forearm, ac- cording to police reports. The troopers repeatedly ordered the man to drop the knife, but he failed to obey the officers’ commands. The three officers would have been completely justi- fied had they decided to use deadly force but Troopers Rick Nugnes and Rob Hunt and Sgt. Bill Cisko managed to save two lives that day. They swarmed Davidson, knocked him off the woman and wrestled the knife from his hands. It’s probably not that com- mon that a guy that was try- ing to kill someone would thank police officers for not justifiably killing him. That wasn’t lost on the State Police Facebook page where a spokesman pointed out the irony. “Thethankstheyreceived? Even handcuffed, Davidson continued to threaten troop- ers and spit at them,” the post said. In the nick of time We at Boston Leather support those who serve. Let us serve you with only the best quality leather products. HANDCUFF CASES | BADGE HOLDERS | RADIO HOLDERS CHEMICAL HOLDERS | BELTS | HOLSTERS | K9 ACCESSORIES P: (800) 733-1492 | F: (800) 856-1650 | 1801 Eastwood Dr. Sterling, IL 61081 Visit Us Online To Find A Dealer Near You | www.bostonleather.com Fine Leather Belts and Accessories ERVWRQ CRAFTED WITH PRIDE IN THE USA BATON HOLDERS BELT KEEPERS CHEMICAL HOLDERS FLASHLIGHT HOLDERS HANDCUFF CASES KEY HOLDERS MAG POUCHES RADIO HOLDERS SHOULDER MIC STRAPS