A mural of Freddy Gray at the intersection of N. Mount and Presbury streets in Baltimore, where he was arrested 10 years ago. Spinal injuries during his arrest led to his death a week later, on April 19, 2015. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Melvin T. Russell, the retired chief of the Baltimore Police Community Division, said he remembers the lack of empathy among police commanders in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death after an arrest 10 years ago.
That’s when he knew “our city was really in trouble.”
“I didn’t see any remorse, there was no real concern within the department,” Russell said. “The concern didn’t come until finally there were the protests on a level that I had not seen in all my years in law enforcement.”
Russell’s comments came during a recent symposium to mark the 10th anniversary of Gray’s death in police custody, an incident that sparked protests followed by days of unrest, criminal charges and a reckoning for the city and its police department.
How much things have changed in the intervening 10 years depends on who is answering the question.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott points to the statistics to buttress his argument that relations between the police and citizens have improved over the past decade.
“When you think about having 2.400-plus [civilian] complaints [in 2015] and now it’s down to 800, and 12 police-involved shootings now down to four,” Scott said.
“The clearance rate of homicides is also up, because people are talking to the police more,” he said, “but we still have a long way to go.”
National Guard troops outside Baltimore City Hall a few days after unrest in the city sparked by the death of Freddie Gray on April 12, 2015. (Photo by John Rydell)
Dayvon Love, director of public policy for the group Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, agrees that some progress has been made in police reform, but also that there are still shortcomings.
“Police investigatory records are now accessible to the public, there’s a change in use-of-force standard, so there are a bunch of things that have shifted the levers that the community has access to, including the police accountability boards,” Love said. “But I think the culture of the police department has not changed.”
Marvin “Doc” Cheatham vividly remembers the Sunday morning 10 years ago,
April 12, 2015, when his friend Freddie Gray was arrested in West Baltimore after a foot chase with police officers.
“You could hear him scream, and you can tell the difference between someone acting and someone actually in pain. He was actually in pain,” said Cheatham, president of the Matthew Henson Community Development Corp.
Cheatham describes Gray as “a jovial guy, but you knew he was up to something mischievous. He ran through the neighborhood selling drugs but was not a major drug dealer.”
Gray, who was 25, had been arrested 15 times in prior years on a variety of charges. After his arrest, captured on cell phone video by a nearby resident, police recovered a small knife. They cuffed him and placed him in the back of a police vam, but did not secure him with a seat belt – for the purpose of giving him what was later described in court testimony as a “rough ride,” where police attempt to bang up those arrested as they are tossed around in the back of the vehicle.
When police later checked on Gray, he was lying unconscious and was then transported to the Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Gray died a week later, on April 19, 2015. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, apparently from a spinal cord injury suffered inside the police van.
On the day Gray died, Russell recalls confronting angry protesters outside the Western Police District, some screaming, “Tell us why you killed Freddie.”
“I represented the police department, and at that moment, I thought I better have some answers,” Russell said.
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Firefighters battle an arson blaze at a senior center under construction in East Baltimore on April 27, 2015. (Photo by John Rydell)
Gray’s death sparked countless protests throughout the city. Days later, those protests erupted in violence that went on for days throughout the city, but concentrated in West Baltimore.
On Monday, April 27, dozens of police officers were pelted with rocks thrown by young people near Mondawmin Mall. A CVS store was set on fire at the corner of Pennsylvania and W. North avenues. Hundreds of locally owned businesses also were heavily damaged or destroyed.
For several days, a citywide curfew was imposed during overnight hours. More than 100 police officers were injured.
Four days later, then-Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the indictments of six officers connected to Gray’s arrest, on a variety of charges. The announcement, televised live on Baltimore TV stations, was greeted with cheers and celebration by residents throughout the city.
“I think she [Mosby] saved our neighborhoods,” Cheatham said. “If she hadn’t had the police officers charged, you would have still had a neighborhood that was upset, and they probably would have done more damage.”
Ultimately, none of the six officers was convicted. A mistrial was declared in Officer William Porter’s case, and Officers Caesar Goodson Jr. and Edward Nero were acquitted of all charges.
In July, 2016, Mosby held a news conference in the West Baltimore neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested, and announced she was dropping all charges against three others: Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer Garrett Miller.
Eight years ago, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar authorized a consent decree between the Justice Department and the Baltimore Police, which called for major reforms in the department.
Those changes include an overhaul in policies for transporting people in custody, including extensive training and upgrading vehicle equipment maintenance. Officers are now equipped with body cameras, and cameras have been installed in all police vans.
Police block the intersection at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and W. North Ave. in West Baltimore on April 27, 2015. (Photo by John Rydell)
In a statement, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said, “The public has my full commitment that these changes reflect a true cultural shift within BPD, a fundamentally reformed agency that serves as a national model for reducing violent crime and upholding constitutional policing.”
But Baltimore Attorney William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr., who represents Gray’s family, says there is still a major problem with the department that impacts public safety.
“I’m very concerned that Baltimore does not have enough police officers,” Murphy said. “If he [Mayor Scott] has one problem with what’s going on, that’s it.”
A Baltimore Police spokesperson said there are currently about 500 vacancies for sworn officers and “the department has hired 70 new recruits since the start of 2025,” nearly double the number hired at this time last year.
In 2021, the General Assembly enacted legislation that transferred control of the Baltimore Police Department from the state to the city. Murphy said he hopes the change will let the mayor will take an active role to implement major changes in the department by removing corrupt officers to enhance public confidence.