By India Wise
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Members of the Baltimore County Justice Coalition on Thursday called for reforms of the Police Department after the release of the body camera footage showing a police officer killing Eric Sopp.
“The death of Eric Sopp is utterly unacceptable,” said Coalition member Sunday Umoh, as he teared up before a crowded press conference. “I’m sorry.”
The group called for an independent review by the Maryland State’s Attorney and the creation of a civilian oversight board.
Melissa Badeker, lead organizer, said the coalition “is a social-political coalition committed to ensuring the Baltimore County Police Department and its officers are accountable and transparent to all residents of Baltimore County.”
The case originates from last November when police received a 911 call from Sopp’s mother, who told officers her son had threatened himself and others around him. The woman also told police that Sopp was both suicidal and intoxicated.
When police finally found Sopp, his car had exited onto the southbound lanes of I-83. Once both officers pulled him over, they said they started communicating with Sopp and began to feel threatened. One officer fired his gun and then called paramedics. By the time medical assistance arrived, Sopp was dead at the scene.
Last week, the body camera footage was released, resulting in an uproar in which many questions arose from Baltimore County citizens and the coalition.
Tre Murphy of the American Civil Liberties Union Maryland, said, “We are going to be calling for an independent review of the Eric Sopp’s case. And that is for a number of reasons. We feel based on what we saw, that the officers started at a place of heightened excessive aggression.”
The coalition called for a review of the Baltimore County protocol and how that played a part in the interaction and killing of Sopp.
“Officer Page had a duty to request the Mobile Crisis Team and de-escalate the situation through verbal and active listening skills” said Umoh, reading from a statement.
No attempt was made to contact the Mobile Crisis Team, which is a protocol that is stated in the Baltimore County Police Department Field Manual, coalition officials said.
Maryland State’s Attorney Brian Frosh should conduct an independent review, they added.
“This coalition is going to be calling on the county executive and the county council to work in conjunction with us,” Murphy said.
“There are members of the Baltimore County Police Department who are engaging in excessive use of force and often times these cases are known on a very small level,” Murphy added.
Coalition member Roland Patterson of the NAACP said that the Sopps case is not the only one and that other Baltimore County citizens have been victims of excessive police force.
Patterson gave the examples of three incidents.
“In the last year alone, Baltimore County police killed Emanuel Oates, Robert Uhi Johnson, Jamaal Taylor, and Gamel Antonio Brown,” he said.
The coalition also called for a civilian oversight board that is “independent of the police department, to serve as an accountability and transparency measure to the residents of Baltimore County.”