title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: While there are no official data about the strength of the Popular Mobilization Forces, there are some estimates, differing significantly. Around Tikrit reports in 2015 suggested there were about 20,000 engaged militiamen, while the grand total ranges are from 2–5 million to 300,000–450,000 Iraqi armed forces. Higher estimates have included about 40,000 Sunni fighters in 2016, a figure evolving from reports in early 2015, which counted 1,000 to 3,000 Sunni fighters. By early March 2015 the Popular Mobilization Forces appeared to be strengthening its foothold in the Yazidis town of Shingal by recruiting and paying local people.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The Popular Mobilization Forces consist of both new volunteers and pre-existing militias, which have been grouped within the umbrella organization formally under the control of the Ministry of Interior Popular Mobilization Units directorate. Among these militias there are the Peace Companies (formerly known as the Mahdi Army), Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kata'ib al-Imam Ali, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered on April 7, 2015, that the Popular Mobilization Forces be placed under the direct command of the prime minister's office, thus giving a further official status to the militia.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In 2015, the chairman of the Popular Mobilization Committee in the Iraqi government was Falih al-Fayyadh, who is also the National Security Adviser. The Popular Mobilization Committee is under the Office of Prime Minister. The PMF are said to have been led on the battlefields by Jamal Jaafar Mohammed, also known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of Kata'ib Hezbollah, but the chain of command runs through pre-existing leaders. According to Iraqi sources, as well as to the London-based pro-Saudi "Asharq Al-Awsat", the different militias rely on their own chain of command, and rarely work together or follow regular Iraqi Army's orders.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The Laws and conduct by which the PMF should abide are those of the Iraqi Government since the Iraqi Prime Minister has the final control over the PMF. Nonetheless, Marja' Ali al-Sistani issued an "Advice and Guidance to the Fighters on the Battlefields" which included a 20 points form of how the PMF should conduct themselves. The main points were that the PMF should treat the liberated areas locals with the Islamic Law which is as quoted from the second point which is a Hadith of the Muslim Prophet Muhammed; "Do not indulge in acts of extremism, do not disrespect dead corpses, do not resort to deceit, do not kill an elder, do not kill a child, do not kill a woman, and do no not cut down trees unless necessity dictates otherwise". Other points included the same aforementioned guidance when treating non-Muslims and also not to steal or disrespect people even if they are the families of the ISIS fighters.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, other people in charge of the PMF include Qais al-Khazali, commander of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and Hadi Al-Amiri, the chief of the Badr Organization. According to "The New York Times", such organizational autonomy may present a challenge to the consolidation of Haider al-Abadi's authority. Volunteers include Shia Arabs, and smaller numbers of Iraqi Christians, Sunni Arabs, and Shia Turkmen.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The militias are trained and supported by military advisers from Turkey (for Sunni and Turkmeni troops), Iran, and Hezbollah, including prominent Quds Force figures, such as (until his 2020 death) Qasem Soleimani. The PMF also appeared to have deployed at least a regiment under the command of Colonel Jumaa al-Jumaily in Al Anbar Governorate. They are also said to have their own military intelligence, administrative systems, a sort of "media war team" that provides morale boosting, battlefield updates and propaganda videos, and a court of law.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to a Sunni newspaper, there are three main Shia components within the Popular Mobilization Forces: the first are the groups that were formed following Sistani's fatwa, without political roots or ambitions; the second are groups that were formed by political parties or are initially the military wings of these parties, with definite political characterization; the third is the armed groups that have been present in Iraq for years and have fought battles against US forces and also participated in operations in Syria.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to Faleh A. Jabar and Renad Mansour for The Carnegie Foundation, the Popular Mobilization Forces are factionally divided into three Shia components: a component pledging allegiance to Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei; a faction pledging allegiance to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani; and the faction headed by Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The main Shia faction in the Popular Mobilization Forces is the group which maintains strong ties with Iran and pledge spiritual allegiance to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The pro-Khamanei faction would consist of already established parties and of relatively small paramilitaries: Saraya Khurasani, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata'ib Abu Fadhl al-Abbas, the Badr Organization and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq. These groups serve as a kind of border guard—a sort of Iranian insurance policy against threats on its immediate border. Their leaders publicly take pride in such affiliations, professing religious allegiance to Khamenei and his notion of Vilayat al-Faqih.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to Faleh A. Jabar and Renad Mansour, the pro-Sistani faction consists of those armed groups formed by Sistani's fatwa to defend Shia holy sites and by paramilitary of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. There are four major groups organized by Najaf: Saraya al-Ataba al-Abbasiya, Saraya al-Ataba al-Hussainiya, Saraya al-Ataba al-Alawiya, and Liwa 'Ali al-Akbar, corresponding to Shia holy sites in Kadhimiya, Karbala, and Najaf. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq also swears allegiance to Sistani. After the Badr Organization left the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, its leader Ammar al-Hakim formed new paramilitary units, including Saraya el-Jihad, Saraya el-'Aqida, and Saraya 'Ashura.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Muqtada al-Sadr's Peace Companies (Saraya al-Salam) were founded in June 2014 from the Mahdi Army. According to Faleh A. Jabar and Renad Mansour, the Sadrists have largely been cut off from Iranian funding.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to Shia P.M.F. officials, the recruitment campaign is successful also because it is administered by the religious establishment and Shia religious scholars from the hawza are instrumental in recruitment. Recruitment via Shia Islamist political party structures and even individual clerics or members of parliament is pursued more the official PMF Commission, which lacks recruitment offices.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In early stages of the PMF, the Shia component was almost exclusive and the Sunni one was negligible since it counted only 1,000 to 3,000 men. In January 2016, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi approved the appointment of 40,000 Sunni fighters to the Popular Mobilization Forces. According to "Al-Monitor", his move was decided in order to give a multiconfessional image to the Forces; however, Sunni fighters began to volunteer even before the al-Abadi's decision. Adding Sunni fighters to the Popular Mobilization Units could set the stage for the force to become the core of the envisioned National Guard. According to "The Economist", as of late April 2016 the Hashd had approximately 16,000 Sunnis.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: It has been observed that the Sunni Arab tribes that took part in al-Hashd al-Shaabi 2015 recruitment are those which also had good relations with Nouri al-Maliki during his tenure as Prime Minister.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to Yazan al-Jabouri, a secular Sunni commander of anti-ISIS Liwa Salahaddin, as of November 2016, there were 30,000 Iraqi Sunnis fighting within the ranks of PMUs.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to Faleh A. Jabar and Renad Mansour for The Carnegie Foundation, Shia Turkmen joined Popular Mobilization Forces in order to increase their local autonomy from Kurdistan and in order to counter Sunni Turkmen, who joined the Islamic State.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: There is also Christian and Shabak PMF units in Ninawa plains. The Imam Ali Brigades trained two Christian units called Kata’ib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam Brigades and Babylon.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The equipment of the Popular Mobilization Forces is a major issue. At the end of January 2015, a video showed a large Kata'ib Hezbollah convoy transporting several American-made military vehicles, including an M1 Abrams Tank, M113 armoured personnel carriers, Humvees, and MRAP vehicles as well as Iranian-made Safir 4×4s and technicals with Kata'ib Hezbollah's flags flying. According to some sources, the Iraqi government is supplying U.S.-provided military equipment to the militias. Iraqi minister of transportation, and the head of the Badr Organization, Hadi Al-Amiri criticized the U.S. for the lack of providing arms. On the other hand, U.S. officials argue that the operators of heavy weapons allegedly taken over by Kata'ib Hezbollah were regular Iraqi soldiers who raised the Hezbollah flag merely in solidarity with the militant group, while the same source acknowledged that it is generally difficult to monitor U.S.-made weapons.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Alongside U.S.-made military equipment handed over to or fallen into the hands of Popular Mobilization Forces, Iran is a major supplier. According to some sources, in 2014 Tehran sold Baghdad nearly $10 billion worth of weapons and hardware. Furthermore, there is a daily supply of Iranian weapons, including Iranian-made 106 mm anti-tank guns as well as 120 mm, 82 mm and 60 mm mortars.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In May 2015, the United States started delivering about $1.6 billion worth of military equipment under the supervision of the Government of Iraq. According to some sources, the major beneficiaries of the weapons deliveries are to be the Popular Mobilization Forces.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Heavy armour seems to be operated by Popular Mobilization Forces in the operations surrounding the battle of Mosul.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The Popular Mobilization Forces have been involved in several battles of the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since their founding, the most important being the Second Battle of Tikrit. After the end of the battle of Tikrit, the complex of occupation forces handed over security issues to local police and security forces.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On Monday April 6, 2015, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that, while being heavily involved in the conquest of Tikrit, the Popular Mobilization Forces will not join the planned Mosul conquest. This statement was reversed in March 2016, when al-Abadi reportedly rejected calls by Nineveh's provincial council to prohibit Popular Mobilization Forces from taking part in retaking Mosul.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Shia volunteers reportedly entered Al Anbar Governorate on very first days of May 2015, among heavy protests of Sunnite personalities, with limited operations continuing in 2016.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In Autumn 2016, they participated in the Mosul Offensive acting as left flank of the anti-IS forces, and by November had captured a number of smaller towns and villages from IS, expanding roughly along a line from Qayyarah to Tal Afar, while keeping a distance (20+ km) to the city of Mosul itself.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In October 2017, the PMF was part of the Iraqi government forces that recaptured Kirkuk, which had been under Kurdish control since 2014.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: PMF militias have been heavily deployed in the Syrian Civil War on the side of the government, often with the stated aim of defending Shi'ite shrines. Although at the time of the formation of the PMF, most of its component groups were primarily engaged in Iraq against ISIL, after the reduction of the immediate ISIL threat in Iraq from 2015, many returned to Syria. For instance, in January 2015 Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada announced the deaths of two of its fighters in defense of Sayeda Zainab in Damascus, and the militia's involvement in the 2015 Southern Syria offensive was documented by the Iraqi TV station Al-Anwar 2. Between 2013 and early 2016, 1,200 Iraqi fighters died in Syria, including combatants of PMF militias Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq and Kata'ib al-Imam Ali, among them senior commanders Abu al-Fadl and Abu Haider al-Nazari.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Kata'ib Hizballah, one of the forces of the PMF, is listed by Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency as a terrorist organization. The United Arab Emirates also classifies it as terrorist. Kata'ib Hizballah was designated a terrorist organization in 2009 by the United States. Its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was also designated a terrorist. In 2020, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, a powerful Iran-backed militia that is part of the PMF, was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: During the 2019–2021 Iraqi protests, which called for the end of the sectarian political system, the PMF militias took part in the protests by using live bullets, marksmen, hot water, hot pepper gas and tear gas against protesters, leading to over 1,000 deaths and over 30,000 injuries.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Some of the militias constituting the Popular Mobilization Forces have been accused of war crimes motivated by sectarian revenge. According to Amnesty International in 2014, Shia militias have abducted, tortured and killed numerous Sunni civilians and, according to Western sources, in Tikrit militants have committed some violences, while being publicily praised; In the wake of the conquest of Tikrit, Iraqi authorities declared that war crimes would be investigated and their perpetrators punished.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: High Shia authorities, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and Ayatollah Hussein Al-Sadr, called on the militants in the PMF to refrain from war crimes or other despicable behaviour. In 2015, "ad hoc" government inquiry committees were established to investigate civilian deaths attributed to the militias.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: In 2016, Mosul Sunni dignitaries and officials accused the PMF of killings of Sunnis, takeovers of schools and forcing Sunnis to sell property in the prime real estate area close to the Mosul shrine. According to City council's deputy chairman Muzher Fleih, 650 Sunnis have disappeared. Militia leaders insist any abuses are isolated incidents, and target only captured Islamic State's collaborators.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Alongside war crimes accusations, concerns regarding the constitutionality and politicization of al-Hashd al-Shaabi have been raised. Sunni sources have called for depoliticization of the Popular Mobilization Forces, to be achieved under the proposed National Guard bill. According to some critics in 2015, the Popular Mobilization Forces were not sanctioned by the Constitution of Iraq and nonetheless had a budget and were paid on regular basis by the Iraqi government, whilst the legally established Peshmerga had not received their wages. The official status and actual dependence of the Popular Mobilization Forces on the Baghdad government and its help was not fully resolved as of late 2015. However, by the end of 2016, a law was passed bringing the PMU under the auspices of the Supreme Commander of the Iraqi National Army, incorporating PMF units into the official army of Iraq and removing any official affiliation with any social, religious or political group.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Recruitment of Yazidis in Kurdish areas has been deemed to go against official Kurdish policy against the move: in February 2015, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani asked the Peshmerga minister to stop all militia activities in the area.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Allegedly, clerics from the Najaf Seminary, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also criticized the monopolistic conduct of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: The Popular Mobilization Forces are accused of accruing a power base in Iraq and of being Iran's instrument to dominate Iraq. The main fears are that the permanent militia would turn themselves into enforcers of Shia domination. The Iraqi Police headquarters in the Muthanna Governorate announced that they were in the process of commissioning Popular Mobilization battalions with security tasks in early January 2016. These tasks included protecting public and private establishments in open desert areas, among others. Other reports indicate that Popular Mobilization is securing border outlets and controlling security in liberated cities.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to General Ali Omran, commander of the army's 5th Infantry Division, P.M.F. militias are too entrenched in politics and at risk of "coming to blows" with the Armed Forces. In February 2016, militiamen refused orders to vacate a building in a military base north of Baghdad.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: According to AP-interviewed government officials and militia leaders, due to the fear of a return to Sunni minority rule over the Iraqi Shia majority, PMF militias want to remain a permanent, independent armed force; Hamed al-Jazaeery, head of the al-Khorasani Brigades militia, stated that the model is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, a member of the PMF, stated that their forces were bombed by US planes on August 7, 2017, in Al Anbar Governorate near the Iraq–Syria border and that Hashd al-Shaabi forces suffered many casualties. The Baghdad-based spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition, Army Col. Ryan Dillon, dismissed the allegation, saying on Twitter that no coalition airstrikes took place in the area at the time. According to the militia's deputy, Ahmed al-Maksousi, they were hit by artillery fire in Syria's Jamouna area, about 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) from the Iraqi border. Along with 40 killed, many militiamen were wounded, al-Maksousi added.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On 22 August 2019, The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), blamed the United States and Israel for a number of bombings on their warehouses and bases. The group accused the US of permitting Israeli drones to join its forces for executing attacks on Iraqi territory. The group pledged to counter any attack in the future. On August 23, a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri called for attacks against US troops in Iraq, "the presence of any US military force in Iraq is forbidden [haram] under any title: military training, advice or the rationale of fighting terrorism".


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On 29 December 2019, the United States bombed the headquarters of PMF member Kata'ib Hezbollah near Al-Qa'im, killing 25 militiamen.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On 3 January 2020, PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, PMF PR head Mohammed Redha al-Jabri, and the Quds Force head, Qasem Soleimani, were among those killed in an assassination near Baghdad Airport.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On 25 February 2021, a U.S. air raid killed one and wounded four while targeting PMF facilities on the Iraqi-Syrian border in Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The facilities were used by PMF forces combatting ISIL in collaboration with the Iraqi and Syrian governments. U.S. officials described the PMF as an "Iranian-backed militia" and the air strike as a retaliation for purported Iranian military aggression against U.S. facilities in Iraq, while Iranian officials denied involvement. Iraqi officials repudiated any connection between the PMF and the insurgents who previously attacked U.S. facilities. The Pentagon asserted that the air raid followed consultation with the Iraqi government and other partners in the region, but the Iraqi military denied providing the U.S. with information regarding locations within Syria.


title: Popular Mobilization Forces

text: On 27 June 2021 US forces bombed two locations after an increase in drone attacks. One location was a drone-making facility and the other a conventional weapons exchange depot. Four members of Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction were claimed to have been killed in the action.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The department is organized into nine districts. It polices of land and of waterways. The department is sometimes referred to as the Baltimore City Police Department to distinguish it from the Baltimore County Police Department.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The first attempt to establish professional policing in Baltimore was in 1784, nearly 60 years after the founding of the colonial town and eight years after United States independence. The city authorized a night watch and a force of day constables to enforce town laws. Nightwatchman George Workner was the first law enforcement officer to be killed in the city; he was stabbed during an escape attempt by nine inmates at Baltimore City Jail on March 14, 1808.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The department was founded in its current form (with uniforms and firearms) in 1853 by the Maryland state legislature "to provide for a better security for life and property in the City of Baltimore". The state did not give the city the power to run its own police affairs. The early decades of the department were marked by internal political conflict over split loyalties. In 1857 the police were reorganized by Mayor Thomas Swann and new men were recruited; many came from Know Nothing gangs in the city and maintained loyalties to former leaders. The first BPD officer to die in the line of duty was Sergeant William Jourdan, who was shot and killed by an unknown gunman during the first city council elections on October 14, 1857.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 1861, during the U.S. Civil War, the police department was taken over by the federal government after police helped push Union and Confederate rioters into a full-out armed confrontation in the Baltimore riot of 1861. The U.S. Military ran the police department until 1862, when they turned authority back to the state legislature.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The department introduced call boxes in 1885, the Bertillon identification system in 1896, and radio communications in 1933.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The first African American officer hired by the department was a woman: Violet Hill Whyte, in 1937. The first black male officers (Walter T. Eubanks Jr., Harry S. Scott, Milton Gardner, and J. Hiram Butler Jr.) were hired the year after. They were all assigned to plainclothes duty to work undercover. In 1943, African Americans were allowed to wear police uniforms, and by 1950 there were 50 black officers in the department.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: African American officers at this point were barred from using squad cars, hit a ceiling in promotion and were limited to patrolling black neighbourhoods or assignments in the Narcotics Division or as undercover officers. They were subjected to racial harassment from both white coworkers (including the use of racial slurs during roll call) and African American residents (including degrading racial graffiti). Bishop L. Robinson and Edward J. Tilghman were two black police officers during this period; both later served as police commissioner. Local Republican politician Marse Callaway played a significant role in increasing the number of African American officers.In 1962, Patrolman Henry Smith Jr. was the first African American officer to die in the line of duty; he was shot breaking up a dice game on North Milton Avenue.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: As with other American cities post-World War II suburbanization, encouraged by government programs, drew large numbers of white residents out of the city. There had always been a large African American minority in Baltimore, which had been growing steadily and became a majority in the mid 20th century. The police department remained dominated by whites; traditionally mostly Irish Americans.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: During the Civil Rights Movement, trust between the department and the predominantly black city became increasingly strained, as African Americans pressed for fair treatment and social justice. In the 1960s, race riots erupted in Baltimore and other cities. Some positive change was implemented under Commissioner Donald Pomerleau, appointed in 1966 after consulting for the International Association of Chiefs of Police in the city for two years and writing a damning report on the department. Pomerleau described the BPD as "the most corrupt and antiquated in the nation, and had developed almost no positive relationship with the city's Negro community". Pomerleau oversaw many reforms, including the racial integration of the department by 1966, also partly a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and efforts by local black activists. However, the riot of 1968 broke out across the city's African-American neighborhoods in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Because few black officers held rank within the department, the African American community was confronted by a white-dominated police department.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In the latter part of the 20th century, restructuring of industry and railroads resulted in a massive loss of industrial jobs in Baltimore. These changes resulted in depopulation, unemployment and poverty; all serious challenges for the police department.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Police community relations were severely strained in Baltimore during the "war on drugs", as with other cities, adding to the stresses of several African American neighborhoods in East and West Baltimore already hollowed out by drug use. African American police officers were intensely disliked, as were white ones.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 1971, African American officers founded the Vanguard Justice Society, to represent their rights and interests. Throughout the 1970s, more African Americans advanced in the department; Black officers were promoted to positions of district commanders and chief of patrol.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In July 1974, officers joined other striking municipal workers for five days during the Baltimore police strike.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 1984, Mayor Donald Schaefer appointed veteran police officer Bishop L. Robinson as Baltimore's first black police commissioner. The department had previously long been dominated by ethnic Irish American and briefly by Italian Americans. Robinson had been the force's first Black officer to command the Eastern District and the Patrol Division. The department redefined several of its policies in effort to avoid the mistakes other departments made in the Watts riots of Los Angeles and Liberty City riots in Miami.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The department began using computerized booking procedures and 911 emergency systems in 1985, and created the first ever 311 non-emergency system in 1996. CCTV cameras began to be used in the same year, while the CitiStat system was introduced in 2000, enabling police to concentrate resources where they would be most needed or effective. During Martin O'Malley's administration as mayor, the department was made up of 43% African American officers.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in 2015, there was rioting in black neighborhoods. The city invited the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation of the police department and its relations with the community. It found evidence of widespread unconstitutional and discriminatory police practices in the city, especially in poor, black neighborhoods.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Following reporting from the investigation, the city, police department and the Civil Rights Division of DOJ negotiated a consent decree,


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: including limits on when and how the [police] can engage individuals suspected of criminal activity. It orders more training for police on de-escalation tactics and interactions with youths, those with mental illness and protesters, as well as more supervision for officers.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar approved the decree in early April 2017, with commitment from Mayor Catherine Pugh and Police Commissioner Kevin Davis to make the changes proposed. Pugh already had included $10 million in the city budget for this purpose. The city will also be required to invest in better technology and equipment, and "for the Police Department to enhance civilian oversight and transparency." He denied a Department of Justice request to postpone signing the decree for 30 days in order to allow review by the Trump Administration.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On May 10, 2018, newly appointed Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa was charged in U.S. District Court with three misdemeanor counts of failing to file federal taxes for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Mayor Catherine Pugh initially expressed support for De Sousa, but a day later she suspended him with pay pending the resolution of the charges against him. De Sousa resigned several days later.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to transfer full control of the department from the state to the city. The transfer is contingent on city voters' approval of a charter amendment. Mayor Brandon Scott plans to assemble a panel tasked with finding ways that funding could be shifted from police to other agencies. Though Gov. Larry Hogan publicly questioned Scott's plans, he let the bill become law without his signature.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The department absorbed the City Park Police in the early 1960s. In 2005, the Housing Authority Police were disbanded and operations taken over by the Baltimore Police Department. Housing Authority officers had to reapply for jobs with the city police, losing any previous seniority. In the 2010s, there has been discussion of merging the Baltimore Schools Police into the department as well.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Promotion is possible after three years of service. Opportunities for advanced training are provided, including specialized firearms training, defense tactics, and job-related topics such as basic criminal investigation. Hash marks, one for every five years service, will be worn on the left sleeve of the uniform as of 2015. In July 2016 the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel were intended to be eliminated as a streamlining and standardisation measure, with all affected personnel being appointed to the rank of Chief, a title formerly used only by certain civilian employees within the department. However, as of 2018 both Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel ranks are still in use.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The Baltimore Police Department has 2,935 sworn and civilian personnel, including dispatchers, crime lab technicians, chaplains, and unarmed auxiliary police officers. Officers are assigned to one of nine districts in the city or a specialized unit. Officers in patrol units work 4 ten-hour shifts a week.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: , the department is administered by Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. The Commissioner is head of the department. Under him are four Deputy Commissioners, heading the Operations, Public Integrity, Compliance and Administrative Bureaus. In addition, the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel generally serve as the head of a particular section or division across the entire agency (Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Neighborhood Services, etc.). The rank of Major is assigned to those who develop, implement, coordinate, and ultimately supervise the day-to-day activities of the department in notable areas of prominence (Special Operations, Homicide/Shootings, Communications, etc.), as well as to those who serve as the commanding officer of each district. In a similar fashion, apart from those serving as the Major's Executive Officer at the district level, Captains may also oversee a particular sub-division as well (Traffic, Tactical, Major Crimes). Lieutenants are tasked with being the shift commander within their respective districts. Some jobs are filled by non-sworn personnel as Directors and Coordinators; in particular, the civilian chief financial officer who oversees the Management Services Division.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The main squad cars used by the department are the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and Chevrolet Caprice, along with Harley Davidson motorcycles. Newer versions of the Ford Taurus SHO and Chevrolet Caprice are being implemented. Some older Chevrolet Impalas are still in service. Unmarked Dodge Chargers, Chevrolet Cobalts and Impalas and assorted Kias are used by some command staff and specialized units.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The older vehicle paint scheme was white with blue and silver striping and a replica of an officer's badge on the front doors. A new black paint scheme with blue and yellow stripes is gradually being implemented. As of 2021 the introduction of Ford Interceptor Utilities began the retirement of Caprices, Impalas and Tauruses due to age, high mileage or general retirement from discontinued models. With the 2020-2022 Ford Explorer being delivered, the department has now found itself transitioning back from black to white for the primary vehicle color. The stripes largely remained unchanged.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The primary service weapon is the Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol, replacing the Glock 17 9mm pistol. Officers are also issued a Monadnock expandable straight baton, TASER 7 and pepper spray. Lethal and less-lethal Remington 870 shotguns are available for patrol. In 2014, the department began its patrol rifle program, issuing Colt LE6920 rifles to selected members of the patrol division. The department's SWAT team (originally the Quick Response Team) carried a mix of weapons in its early years, including M1 carbines, M16 assault rifles, Colt 9 mm SMGs and Ruger Mini 14 rifles. In the early 2000s, SWAT rearmed with a mix of UMP40 sub machine guns and G36K assault rifles. In 2014, SWAT replaced their assault rifles with the Colt LE6946CQB.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The espantoon is an ornate, straight wooden baton with a long swiveled leather strap designed for twirling. It is distinct to the city of Baltimore and has been in use for generations. Between 1994 and 2000, the espantoon was banned by commissioner Thomas Frazier in favor of the koga stick due to the perception that its twirling intimidated the citizenry. In 2000, Edward T. Norris became commissioner and lifted the ban on the espantoon to raise staff morale and instill a more aggressive approach to policing, although he did not make its use mandatory. Norris stated, "When I found out what they meant to the rank and file, I said, 'Bring them back.' ... It is a tremendous part of the history of this Police Department."


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Sergeants and below wear a navy blue shirt and pants, with a felt stripe down the pant leg, with any rank insignia on the sleeve and collar devices denoting district or unit. Lieutenants and above wear a white shirt with navy blue pants, with rank insignias on the collar. Nametags are worn above the right breast pocket, and sleeve patches are worn on both arms. Ties are worn with the long sleeve uniform shirt. Turtlenecks with BPD embroidered in gold letters at the collar may be worn with the long sleeve uniform in lieu of a tie. Short sleeve uniform shirts are authorized for warmer months.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The 8-point peaked cap is worn by all officers. Its cap device is the Maryland Coat of Arms; silver for those below the rank of Lieutenant, gold for Lieutenants, and gold with coloured detail for Captains and above. The hat has a chin strap; black for Police Officers and Detectives, blue for Sergeants and gold for Lieutenants and above. Captains and above have gold fretting on their visor. Police Officers have their badge number below the coat of arms, while Detectives and above have their ranks below the coat of arms.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The current badge was designed in 1976. It is a shield, with "Police" written at the top, the Maryland state shield with the Battle Monument in the middle, and the words "Baltimore Maryland" and the officer's badge number at the bottom. An eagle is perched on top, holding a ribbon in its beak showing the officer's rank. Badges are silver for those below Lieutenant, and gold for Lieutenants and above.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Awarded by the Police Commissioner to members who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and courage at the risk of their own lives, above and beyond the call of duty, in an extraordinary act of heroism and bravery without endangering or jeopardizing the lives of others and without detriment in any way to their sworn oath. A member must perform an act so outstanding that it clearly distinguishes superlative courage, beyond the call of duty, from lesser forms of bravery.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Awarded for an exceptional act, or execution of duty, performed in the presence of great danger and personal risk without endangering or jeopardizing the lives of others, and performed in such a manner as to clearly indicate that the sworn member performance of duty should have resulted in the prevention or solution of a crime, the arrest of those responsible, and thereby sets apart and distinguishes the member from other members. To merit this award the act must be heroic, but not to the degree justifying the Medal of Honor. This award shall not be granted for arrests resulting solely from information of an informant.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Awarded to sworn members who distinguish themselves by displaying exceptionally meritorious service to the department and to the community. The sworn member must have displayed abilities and exercised judgment well above the expected standard and thereby contributed materially to the success of a major mission, investigation or endeavor. It may be awarded for an act involving personal danger under aggravated or hostile circumstances and for protecting or saving the life of another.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Awarded to sworn members who save the life of another person by decisive action. Situations include: CPR, Heimlich Maneuver; prompt application of first aid in potentially fatal situation; and any other act that saves a life and is not strictly a police related function.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Awarded to members who have distinguished themselves by exceptional meritorious service. The Distinguished Service Award may be awarded to sworn and civilian members who have displayed their abilities well above the expected standards reflecting technical or administrative achievement or exceptional leadership in achieving a specific goal, objective or innovation. It distinguishes the individual's performance which is identifiable in achievement, effect or consequence.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: To merit this award, the act of service must be accomplished or performed in a manner above that normally expected. It must be sufficient to distinguish the individual member above those of comparable position and responsibility and reflect a highly credible accomplishment. The award may be given for submitting an adopted suggestion which constitutes a definite contribution to the department, such as, invention or innovation resulting in an improved design, procedure, organization or relating to crime prevention or crime resistance. It may be awarded when members have displayed extraordinary intelligence, coverage and ability in effecting arrests, preventing a crime or solving a case.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Sworn members who have sustained gunshot wounds, stab wounds, or serious injury under aggravated and hostile circumstances which could result in death or permanent disability while acting in their official capacity are eligible for this award. Authority for the issuance of the Citation of Valor lies solely with the Police Commissioner.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Any bureau, division, district, section, subdivision, unit or squad of members of the department is eligible for this award. The Unit Citation is awarded by the District Commander/Commanding Officer (or designee) to commend extraordinary law enforcement performance, attention to duty, contribution to this agency or to the general welfare of the citizens of the City of Baltimore. The criteria for the awarding of this recognition is the same as that for the "Commendation" when a group effort is recognized. The mutual and full participation of all unit members in the cited activity must be explained in detail in order to be considered for this unit distinction.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Only sworn members of the department on duty in the City of Baltimore during the period of civil unrest, 5 April through 14 April 1968, were eligible for this award.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Only sworn members of the department who contributed to the suppression of unrest or security of property during the 2015 Riots resulting from the death of Freddie Gray are eligible for this award.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2000 Commissioner Edward Norris presented this commendation to every officer that worked that year, as it was one of the first years that shootings and homicides had been significantly reduced from year prior.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Safe Driving Awards were presented to encourage safe driving. Initially they were given out every year that an officer went without having an accident. This practice ceased. Subsequently, Safe Driving Awards were revived in five year blocks instead of every year with awards being available in five year blocks, with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 year awards. The 10 year pin has a silver star in its center, followed by the 15 with 2 stars, 20 with 3 stars and 25 with 4 stars.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, BPD has lost 146 officers in the line of duty since 1808, the most recent on December 23, 2021. This figure includes officers from other agencies that were absorbed by or became part of the modern BPD in addition to the modern department itself. This number also includes officers killed on and off duty by gunfire of other officers on duty.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: BPD has experienced negative publicity in recent years due to several high-profile corruption and brutality allegations, including the 2005 arrest of Officers William A. King and Antonio L. Murray by the FBI for federal drug conspiracy charges.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: During the past generation, the Baltimore Police Department has faced criticism from local media, elected officials, and citizen advocacy groups. The criticism has pertained to the high crime rate in the city of Baltimore, which in some years has been ranked among the highest in the nation.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In the mid-2000s, Maryland State Delegate, the Honorable Jill P. Carter, daughter of the late civil rights champion, Walter P. Carter, exposed numerous cases of the Baltimore City Police arresting people for seemingly minor offenses, detaining them at Central Booking for several hours. Many were released without charges. Some were reportedly detained at Central Booking for several days before seeing a court commissioner. All arrestees in Maryland are required to have an initial appearance before a court commissioner within 24 hours of their arrest.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: It should also be noted that correctional officers at Central Booking were rumored to be on a work slowdown during this time. Corrections personnel are prohibited from striking.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The exposure of these cases led to judicial and legislative action. In 2005, the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered all arrestees not charged within 24 hours to be released.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On May 16, 2006, a Baltimore city police officer, Natalie Preston, arrested a Virginia couple for asking for directions to a major highway. The couple, released after seven hours in city jail, were not charged with any crime. They were initially taken into custody for trespassing on a public street. Their vehicle was impounded at the city lot, with windows down and doors unlocked, resulting in theft of several personal items.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2007, the state of Maryland passed a law requiring the automatic expungement of the record of one who is arrested, but then released without being charged, thereby eliminating the dilemma many such victims faced that would prevent them from passing a criminal background check if the record remained, but would not allow for a wrongful arrest lawsuit if the record were expunged.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On June 23, 2010, a $870,000 comprehensive settlement was reached which culminated more than a year of negotiations between the city and plaintiffs. The settlement provides for far-reaching reforms of the BPD's arrest and monitoring practices. The suit, which was filed in 2006, and amended in 2007, was brought on behalf of thirteen individual plaintiffs and the Maryland State Conference and Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2016, the United States Justice Department issued a 163-page report which "condemned many long-standing discriminatory enforcement practices by Baltimore police that allowed for illegal searches, arrests and stops of African Americans for minor offenses." The highly critical report also chastised the department's "zero tolerance" and "broken windows" policing, and found that the department's practices "regularly discriminated against black residents in poor communities".


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In April 2017, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar approved a consent decree signed by the Baltimore Police Department and former acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, rejecting an objection by new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: All eight members of the Gun Trace Task Force were accused in a federal racketeering indictment. The eight officers—Daniel Hersl, Evodio Hendrix, Jemell Rayam, Marcus Taylor, Maurice Ward, Momodu Gondo, Thomas Allers and Wayne Jenkins—were accused of shaking down citizens for money and pocketing it, lying to investigators, filing false court paperwork, and making fraudulent overtime claims. The amount stolen from citizens ranged from $200 to $200,000. The probe began when the Drug Enforcement Administration started looking into the officers while investigating a drug organization and later involved the FBI. The officers were summoned by internal affairs on the morning of Wednesday, March 1, 2017, and arrested. All eight officers were convicted, and received sentences ranging from 7 to 25 years. The indictment was portrayed on the HBO series "We Own This City", which serves as David Simon's spiritual successor to "The Wire", another show that follows Baltimore police officers.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2016, continuous aerial surveillance was disclosed. The program had private funding from John D. Arnold, and was contracted to Persistent Surveillance Systems Inc.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Attorney Susan Simpson, working with the "Undisclosed" podcast, investigated the 2001 murder conviction of Adnan Syed for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee. She found that during a Baltimore police interview of witness Jay Wilds, when Wilds didn't know what to say a tapping sound would be heard, after which Wilds suddenly knew what to say. The podcast said that this tapping was detectives showing Wilds what they thought was the correct answer. Wilds himself later said that he was coached to say that he first saw the victim's body at a certain Best Buy.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On 4 October 2019, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she had begun the process of asking courts to throw out 790 convictions which depended on the testimony of 25 Baltimore police officers who she said were discredited. On 14 October 2019, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she had a list of "hundreds of officers" who had allegations of misconduct that called their credibility into question.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Commissioner James M. Hepbron was subject to a hearing on February 19, 1959, led by Jerome Robinson, Democratic State Delegate for the fourth district. Delegate Robinson had a long history of challenging wiretapping and search warrants, as he believed the practice unconstitutional, against Federal law and a violation of the natural rights of the citizen. In the 90-day public hearing and investigation, Robinson stated that the commissioner "demonstrate[d] lack of a sense of propriety and in several respects a lack of comprehension on the part of the commissioner of the nature of his duties, the functions of the department, and the obligations to the citizenry" During the public hearing Hepbron incessantly left the hearing and/or refused to answer specifications against him.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: During the hearing, Robinson urged the commissioner to resign in the public interest. Robinson wrote, "it is obvious that he has outlived his position. His administration has produced continuing deterioration and the demoralization of the department".


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Despite considerable evidence, Hebron denied to address he was acting illegally. Delegate Robinson cited 36 instances where the cases were dropped or defendants released because of planted evidence and other means of framing suspects. He called these offenses, "a creature of commissioner Hepbron". Robinson also cited the Green Spring Avenue assault by a police officer of a 15-year-old boy, countless shootings of unarmed auto-thieves, and illegal raids on properly licensed establishments. At one point Robinson stated the head of the city police was "an SS officer in a Chesterfield coat who is impatient with the Bill of Rights and intolerant of the constitutional liberties and prerogatives of the people"


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Alvin J. T. Zumbrun, former managing director of the Criminal Justice Commission, issued a statement against Robinson in the commissioner's defense. He described the charges brought against Hepbron "the utterances of an angry madman possessed with the mania to have the police commissioner removed at all costs" Zumbrun cited details of multiple instances where he believed Robinson had lied, citing instances as small as a phone call, office visit or passing informal greeting by Robinson to Zumbrun. While Zumbrun's evidence never addressed actual police violations of state law, Zumbrun continued to press for the expulsion of Robinson of the General Assembly of Maryland to Governor J. Millard Tawes.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In December 2003, former Commissioner Ed Norris was indicted on three charges by US Attorney Thomas DiBiagio. Two of the counts charged Norris had made illegal personal expenditures from the Baltimore Police Department's supplemental account. The third alleged that he had lied on a mortgage application, stating that approximately $9,000 he received from his father was not a gift—as was stated in the loan papers—but a loan. As part of a plea bargain in May 2004, Norris pleaded guilty to the first two counts and was sentenced to six months in federal prison, six months of home detention, and 500 hours of community service, which Judge Dick Bennett said must be served in Baltimore. The plea bargain avoided a possible 30-year sentence on the mortgage fraud charge.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: A rash of high-profile corruption and brutality allegations surfaced in late 2005 and early 2006, including the suspension and arrest of officers in a so-called "flex squad" for the alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman they had taken into custody for illegal possession of narcotics. All criminal charges against the accused officers have since been dropped.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Stories subsequently surfaced about flex squad officers planting evidence. Murder charges were dropped when it was revealed that a gunman was dropped off in rival gang territory after a police interrogation in a squad car. The man was beaten badly and exacted his revenge the next day. The squad's role in the shooting prompted State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy to drop the charges.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: William A. King and Antonio L. Murray are two former BPD officers sentenced to a total of 454 years in prison after an FBI investigation in 2005 identified them as drug traffickers. The investigation was aided by a DVD that circulated in Baltimore called Stop Snitchin', in which the two officers, for their participation in drug trade, are examples of untrustworthy police.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On 17 March 2007, police arrested seven-year-old Gerard Mungo while he was sitting in front of his house on a dirtbike. Though he was seated on the dirtbike at the time of the arrest, officers reported they saw him riding it earlier. Local law prohibits the operation of vehicles with an engine capacity of less than 50cc inside the city limits. Ordinances passed by city council, Article 19 Section 40-6, states that any and all unregistered motor bikes, dirt bikes, scooters, or anything similar in nature is illegal in Baltimore City. Officers stated they were "following procedure" in making a physical arrest.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In 2008, BPD officer John Torres shot and killed another officer, Norman Stamp. In 2014, Torres was arrested for attempted murder. The Baltimore Police Department has been accused of a coverup.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: BPD officer Salvatore Rivieri came to national attention in February 2008 following the release of two videos depicting separate incidents of him verbally assaulting and manhandling citizens.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The first video was posted to YouTube on February 9, 2008 and showed Officer Rivieri berating and manhandling a 14-year-old-boy, Eric Bush, who had been skateboarding in a tourist area of Inner Harbor where skateboarding is not permitted. In the video, Rivieri threatened to "smack [Bush] upside the head" if he continued to "back-talk." Rivieri also said that someone would kill Bush if he did not learn "the meaning of respect." Rivieri seemed particularly irate by the boy addressing him as "dude." "I am not a dude, a dude is someone who works on a ranch!" Rivieri shouts on the tape. After the video surfaced, Rivieri was suspended with pay while the Baltimore Police Department conducted an investigation. The story made national headlines and prompted another man to come forward with footage of an earlier confrontation with the officer.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On February 15, 2008, ABC affiliate WMAR-TV aired a second video involving Officer Rivieri, in which he confronted an artist from Washington, D.C. The artist, Billy Friebele, was making a film depicting the reactions of passersby to a small box he was moving around a sidewalk with a remote controlled car.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In the wake of the incidents in April 2008, BPD replaced the sergeant and lieutenant commanding the 12 officers patrolling the Inner Harbor area, from the edge of Federal Hill to the Fallsway, near Pier 5. Sterling Clifford, a police department spokesman, said: "Given the extreme nature of that incident, we thought it was important for the officers to brush up on their interpersonal skills."


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The mother of Eric Bush filed a suit against Rivieri in April 2008 (two months after the video circulated) seeking $6 million for assault, battery, and violation of rights. The city sought to have the suit dismissed, partly because such claims must be filed within 180 days of the incident. The family's attorney argued that the statute of limitations did not apply to a minor. On December 11, 2008, Baltimore Circuit Judge Marcus Z. Shar ruled that the lawsuit could proceed. On September 14, 2009, Rivieri's motion for summary judgment was granted by Circuit Judge Evelyn Cannon, dismissing the case. William P. Blackford, the attorney for the Bush family, said of the judgment: "The family is incredibly disappointed, and feels wronged...they've had their day in court taken away."


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In early 2009, the Baltimore Police Department cited death threats received by Rivieri as justification for no longer disclosing the names of police officers who shoot or kill citizens. Rivieri was eventually cleared of using excessive force and discourtesies by an internal police panel, but convicted of the administrative charge of failing to write a report. The panel recommended that he be suspended five days, but Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III disagreed and fired him. On February 28, 2011, the firing of Rivieri was upheld.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In January 2011, Detective Anthony Fata reported he had been shot in a parking structure near police headquarters. In August 2013, he was convicted on various charges of benefits fraud, having in fact shot himself.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On July 19, 2011, Officer Daniel G. Redd was arrested for drug trafficking. While on trial, Redd admitted to being involved in the distribution of heroin. Redd was sentenced to twenty years in prison in September 2012.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In May 2012, Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III directed a team (including agents from the FBI) that used wiretaps and other techniques to break up a major corruption scandal centered on the Majestic Auto Body shop. The shop paid BPD officers a fee when they called Majestic tow trucks to the scene of an accident. In all, 17 officers pleaded guilty to charges. At least another 37 officers were involved.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In August 2013, Officer Lamin Manneh was indicted on charges he was acting as a pimp for his own wife and another woman. In November 2014, he was convicted of violation of the Mann Act.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Officer James Walton Smith killed himself in August 2013, while in custody while awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In October 2013, Officer Kendell Richburg was sentenced to eight years in prison on a number of charges. He pleaded guilty of conspiring with a local drug dealer. The officer would protect the dealer from arrest while he in turn provided information on his customers allowing Richburg to easily arrest them.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In October 2013, Officer Christopher Robinson shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her new partner before killing himself.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In November 2013, Officer Ashley Roane pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme to sell Social Security numbers. She admitted to having used official computers to access personal information which she then passed on to others who used the information to defraud the government. She also admitted to knowingly protecting persons who transported large amounts of heroin in the city. In February 2014, she was sentenced to five years in prison.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In March 2014, the city of Baltimore agreed to pay $250,000 to a man arrested at the Preakness Stakes in 2010 for recording police officers with his mobile phone. The city admitted no misconduct and said it was unable to identify the officers who arrested Christopher Sharp, but agreed to pay to settle the matter.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In April 2014, Officer Frederick Allen pleaded guilty to two counts of a sexual abuse of a minor. The abuse started in 2005 when the girl was fifteen years old and working with the Police Athletic League. Allen was fired from the department.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In August 2014, Officer Alec Eugene Taylor pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty. He killed his girlfriend's puppy.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Four BPD officers responded to a burglary call on 28 December 2014, where Michael Johansen had broken into a store and was attempting to steal cigarettes. When Johansen was asked to show his hands, he allegedly put his hands towards his lower waist area, and two officers opened fire, striking him multiple times. Johansen collapsed to the floor, and then asked officers if he was shot with beanbag rounds. Officer Wesley Cagle responded with "No, a .40-caliber, you piece of shit," and then shot Johansen in the groin at close range. Johansen survived. On 19 August 2015, the first two officers who shot Johansen were justified by state prosecutors in the shooting, and Cagle was charged with attempted murder and assault. Cagle was released on $1 million bail, but was later fired, found guilty of first-degree assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man, was taken into custody on April 12, 2015, for the possession of a switchblade knife. While being transported, Gray had experienced what was described by officers as a "medical emergency." Within an hour of his arrest, Gray fell into a coma and had been taken to a trauma center, where it was determined that he had suffered from a spinal injury. According to his family, Gray's spine was "80% severed" at his neck, he had three fractured vertebrae, and his larynx was injured. At the autopsy, however, the spinal cord was said to be intact. A contusion and secondary, time-related changes of edema and necrosis were seen. The events that led to the injuries are unclear; Officer Garrett Miller claimed that Gray was arrested "without force or incident." Dissenting medical professionals place the timing of the injury to the time of arrest.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Despite extensive surgery in an attempt to save his life, Gray died on 19 April. Pending an investigation, six BPD officers were temporarily suspended with pay. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts reported that the officers "failed to get [Gray] medical attention in a timely manner multiple times," and did not buckle him in the van while he was being transported to the police station.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The death of Gray led to the 2015 Baltimore riots. A major protest in downtown Baltimore on 25 April turned violent, resulting in 34 arrests and the injuries of 15 police officers. Following Gray's funeral on April 27, the unrest intensified with the looting and burning of local businesses and a CVS pharmacy, culminating with the deployment of the Maryland National Guard to Baltimore and declaration of a state of emergency by Governor Larry Hogan.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: On May 1, the six officers were charged in Gray's death. One officer was charged with second degree murder, which carries a penalty of up to 30 years imprisonment, while the five others were charged with crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to illegal arrest. One of the officers trials ended in mistrial. Three of the officers were found not guilty at trial and the remaining charges against the officers were dropped on July 27, 2016.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Baltimore police fired 44 rounds at Keith Davis Jr. on June 7, 2015, hitting with three, including one in the face. The police had been in hot pursuit of a robbery suspect, and Davis was nearby. Police said Davis was shooting a gun at them, while Davis said he did not have a gun. Davis called his girlfriend near the end of the shooting. According to her, he said the police were trying to kill him. Davis was charged with 15 counts, including the robbery and discharge of a firearm. The discharge of a firearm count were dropped after it was proved that all the shots came from the police. Davis was found not guilty of the robbery after the victim said in Court that Davis did not resemble the robber. Davis was found guilty of possession of the gun, which he says was planted. Davis was also charged with a murder in an earlier incident involving the same gun. The first three times Davis was tried for the murder resulted in two mistrials and one conviction that was later overturned. Marilyn Mosby's office tried him a fourth time for the murder, with the Baltimore court restricting access to courtroom audio, ordering that it not be broadcast to the public; the Undisclosed podcast broadcast the audio anyway, which it says is protected by the First Amendment. The fourth trial again reached a guilty verdict, and Davis was facing sentencing of up to 50 years. However, also this verdict was later overturned. A 5th murder trial was scheduled for May 2022.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In February 2021, Detective Victor Rivera was sentenced to fourteen months in confinement. Working with two other policemen, Rivera stole three kilograms of cocaine and used a police informant to sell the contraband. Officer Keith Gladstone pleaded guilty to a related charge.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: In July 2021, an off-duty BPD police officer, Eric Banks, was arrested for murder and for trying to disarm another officer who was at his residence in neighboring Anne Arundel County. The police were investigating Banks' teenaged step-son's disappearance and went to his home to rule out the possibility the step-son might have been hiding inside the house. Banks originally tried to block officers from entering and checking the attic space however when they accessed it, they found his step-son's body. Banks subsequently began wrestling with officers for their firearms and was arrested. According to charging documents, Banks admitted to hiding the body in the attic space, but did not provide a specific reason why he did so. According to Maryland Public Court Records, Banks took an Alford Plea and, as of October 2022, is awaiting sentencing.


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: Episode #106 of Rescue 9-1-1- featured a ride-along with Baltimore police officer John Smith, and respond to a shooting/murder at a restaurant called "The Yellow Bowl".


title: Baltimore Police Department

text: The portrayals of Baltimore City in "The Wire" and "" have received criticism from several notable Baltimore politicians, such as former mayor and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley and former mayor Sheila Dixon. Both politicians have argued that the shows glorify the levels of violence within the city and give Baltimore a negative image. In contrast, the police department has been relatively supportive of the shows, stating that crime within the city has been accurately portrayed. Several current and former members of the police force have served as technical advisors for the Baltimore-based shows and some, such as former Major Gary D'Addario, have allegedly been either dismissed or forced to retire from the department for assisting the shows' producers and directors.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: The series was later acquired by Hobby Japan, who have published twelve volumes since September 2017 under their HJ Novels imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Ranran has been serialized online via Square Enix's "Manga UP!" website since November 2017 and has been collected in nine "tankōbon" volumes. The light novel is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club, while the manga is licensed by Square Enix. An anime television series adaptation by Maho Film aired from October to December 2020. A second season is set to premiere in January 2023.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: Ryoma Takebayashi is a lonely man who led a life filled with hardships until he dies from an unfortunate accident during his sleep. In the afterlife, he is greeted by three gods who grew fond of him and send him to another world as a child, where he makes use of his innate knowledge and abilities, combined with the gods' blessings to live a new life filled with challenges and happy meetings.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: The series was first published online on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in January 2014 by Roy. A revised version of the series was then launched in September 2015. It was later acquired by Hobby Japan, who published the first volume as a light novel under their HJ Novels imprint in September 2017. The series is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: A manga adaptation of the series by Ririnra began serialization in Square Enix's "Manga UP!" app and website on November 29, 2017. The manga is licensed in North America by Square Enix.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: An anime adaptation of the series was announced by Hobby Japan on February 20, 2020, which was later confirmed to be a television series on April 17, 2020. The series was animated by Maho Film and directed by Takeyuki Yanase, with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu as story editor and screenwriter, Kaho Deguchi as character designer with Ririnra credited with the original designs, and Hiroaki Tsutsumi composing the music. While the first episode had an advanced premiere screening at FunimationCon 2020 on July 3, 2020, the series officially ran for 12 episodes in Japan from October 4 to December 20, 2020 on Tokyo MX and BS Fuji. Azusa Tadokoro performed the opening theme "Yasashii Sekai", while MindaRyn performed the ending theme "Blue Rose knows".


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: The series was licensed outside of Asia by Funimation. On October 31, 2020, Funimation announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. Medialink has also licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia and streamed it on their Ani-One YouTube channel.


title: By the Grace of the Gods

text: On June 4, 2021, a second season was announced. Yuka Yamada is replacing Kazuyuki Fudeyasu as the scriptwriter. It is set to premiere on January 8, 2023. MindaRyn will perform the opening theme "Way to go", while Azusa Tadokoro will perform the ending theme "Drum-shiki Tansaki".


title: Aqueous solution

text: An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), in water would be represented as . The word "aqueous" (which comes from "aqua") means pertaining to, related to, similar to, or dissolved in, water. As water is an excellent solvent and is also naturally abundant, it is a ubiquitous solvent in chemistry. Since water is frequently used as the solvent in experiments, the word solution refers to an aqueous solution, unless the solvent is specified.


title: Aqueous solution

text: A "non-aqueous solution" is a solution in which the solvent is a liquid, but is not water. (See also Solvent and Inorganic nonaqueous solvent.)


title: Aqueous solution

text: Substances that are "hydrophobic" ('water-fearing') do not dissolve well in water, whereas those that are "hydrophilic" ('water-friendly') do. An example of a hydrophilic substance is sodium chloride. In an aqueous solution the hydrogen ions () and hydroxide ions () are in Arrhenius balance ( = "K" = 1 x 10 at 298 K).


title: Aqueous solution

text: Acids and bases are aqueous solutions, as part of their Arrhenius definitions. An example of an Arrhenius acid is hydrogen chloride (HCl) because of its dissociation of the hydrogen ion when dissolved in water. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is an Arrhenius base because it dissociates the hydroxide ion when it is dissolved in water.


title: Aqueous solution

text: Aqueous solutions may contain, especially in the alkaline zone or subjected to radiolysis, hydrated atomic hydrogen and hydrated electrons.


title: Aqueous solution

text: Aqueous solutions that conduct electric current efficiently contain strong electrolytes, while ones that conduct poorly are considered to have weak electrolytes. Those strong electrolytes are substances that are completely ionized in water, whereas the weak electrolytes exhibit only a small degree of ionization in water. The ability for ions to move freely through the solvent is a characteristic of an aqueous strong electrolyte solution. The solutes in a weak electrolyte solution are present as ions, but only in a small amount.


title: Aqueous solution

text: Nonelectrolytes are substances that dissolve in water yet maintain their molecular integrity (do not dissociate into ions). Examples include sugar, urea, glycerol, and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM).


title: Aqueous solution

text: Reactions in aqueous solutions are usually metathesis reactions. Metathesis reactions are another term for double-displacement; that is, when a cation displaces to form an ionic bond with the other anion. The cation bonded with the latter anion will dissociate and bond with the other anion.


title: Aqueous solution

text: A common metathesis reaction in aqueous solutions is a precipitation reaction. This reaction occurs when two aqueous strong electrolyte solutions mix and produce an insoluble solid, also known as a precipitate. The ability of a substance to dissolve in water is determined by whether the substance can match or exceed the strong attractive forces that water molecules generate between themselves. If the substance lacks the ability to dissolve in water, the molecules form a precipitate.


title: Aqueous solution

text: When writing the equations of precipitation reactions, it is essential to determine the precipitate. To determine the precipitate, one must consult a chart of solubility. Soluble compounds are aqueous, while insoluble compounds are the precipitate. There may not always be a precipitate. Complete ionic equations and net ionic equations are used to show dissociated ions in metathesis reactions. When performing calculations regarding the reacting of one or more aqueous solutions, in general one must know the concentration, or molarity, of the aqueous solutions.


title: Julie Powell

text: Julia Anne Powell (; April 20, 1973 – October 26, 2022) was an American author known for her 2005 book "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" which was based on her blog, the Julie/Julia Project. A film adaptation based on her book called "Julie & Julia" was released in 2009.


title: Julie Powell

text: Powell was born April 20, 1973, to John Landrum and Kay Elaine ( Carradine) Foster. She had a brother named Jordan Foster. She was raised in Austin, Texas. She graduated from Amherst College in 1995 with a double major in theater and creative writing.


title: Julie Powell

text: While working for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in August 2002, Powell began the Julie/Julia Project, a blog on "Salon" chronicling her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". The blog quickly gained a large following, and Powell signed a book deal with Little, Brown and Company. The resulting book, "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen", was published in 2005. The paperback edition was retitled "Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously".


title: Julie Powell

text: Child was reported to have been unimpressed with Powell's blog, believing her determination to cook every recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year to be a stunt. Child's editor, Judith Jones, said in an interview:


title: Julie Powell

text: Reviews from others were also mixed. David Kamp writing in "The New York Times" disliked Powell's writing style, saying it "has too much blog in its DNA. It has a messy, whatever's-on-my-mind incontinence to it, taking us places we'd rather not go". Similarly, Keith Phipps of "The A.V. Club" did not think the transition from blog to memoir was handled well, asserting that its "digressive stream-of-consciousness style has become the lingua franca of the blogosphere, and while it can be an art form when dished out in daily installments, it's a slog at book length". More positive was the review in "Kirkus Reviews", which wrote approvingly of Powell's style: "Indulge in this memoir of marrow and butter, knowing there is always a bitter green to balance the taste", The review in "Publishers Weekly", meanwhile, suggested that "Both home cooks and devotees of Bridget Jones–style dishing will be caught up in Powell's funny, sharp-tongued but generous writing".


title: Julie Powell

text: In 2009, Powell was awarded an honorary diploma from Le Cordon Bleu, the same cooking school from which Child graduated in 1951.


title: Julie Powell

text: Prior to her Julie/Julia project, Powell had never eaten an egg before she tackled Oeufs à la Fondue de Fromage. At various points in the blog, Powell confessed to loathing beans, olives, anchovies, salad, spinach, eggs and even fresh peas ("little green sacs of wet flour").


title: Julie Powell

text: The film "Julie & Julia" directed by Nora Ephron was released August 7, 2009. The film was based on both Julie Powell's book and Julia Child's autobiography "My Life in France". Amy Adams starred as Julie Powell and Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Julie's husband, Eric, was portrayed by Chris Messina. Julia's husband, Paul, was portrayed by Stanley Tucci.


title: Julie Powell

text: Powell's second book, "Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession", details her experiences learning to butcher at Fleisher's butcher shop in Kingston, New York, and the effects of affairs by both her and her husband on their marriage. It was published on November 30, 2009. The work received several negative reviews based on the content of the book and Powell's openness about the affairs.


title: Julie Powell

text: In 2022, Powell started writing a series of commentary pieces for "Salon" about "The Julia Child Challenge", a Food Network reality television show in which Powell was not involved.


title: Julie Powell

text: Julie married Eric Powell, an editor for the magazine "Archaeology", in 1998. She died of cardiac arrest at her home in Olivebridge, New York, on October 26, 2022, at age 49.


title: Park Byung-eun

text: Park was set to debut with 90s South Korean boy group Taesaja in 1997, but gave up due to him feeling that he cannot sing well.


title: Park Byung-eun

text: Park made his debut in 2000 with a minor role in the TV series "Mr. Duke". He had bit roles in "Sex Is Zero" (2002), "Princess Aurora" (2005), and "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" (2005).


title: Park Byung-eun

text: In 2015, he played a Japanese lieutenant in "Assassination" and was signed to a management company after his performance.


title: Park Byung-eun

text: He also diversified his roles recently by starring in the rom-com TV series "Because This Is My First Life" (2017) and in the historical war epic "The Great Battle" (2018), "Kingdom " (2020) and "Kingdom: Ashin of the North" (2021).


title: Bribery

text: Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action."


title: Bribery

text: Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.


title: Bribery

text: A bribe is an illegal or unethical gift or lobbying effort bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be money, goods, rights in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, objects of value, advantage, or merely a promise to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.


title: Bribery

text: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 has a target to substantially reduce corruption and bribery of all forms as part of international effort aimed at ensuring peace, justice and strong institutions.


title: Bribery

text: Everything in our society goes through changes that brings long-lasting positive or negative complications. Similar has been the case with bribery, which brought negative changes to societal norms as well as to trade. The researchers found that when bribery becomes part of social norms, then one approach is not enough to tackle bribery due to the existence of different societies in different countries. If severe punishment works in one country, it doesn’t necessarily mean that severe punishment would work in another country to prevent bribery. Also, the research found that bribery plays a significant role in public private firms around the world.


title: Bribery

text: Many types of payments or favors may be fairly or unfairly labeled as bribes: tip, gift, sop, perk, skim, favor, discount, waived fee/ticket, free food, free ad, free trip, free tickets, sweetheart deal, kickback/payback, funding, inflated sale of an object or property, lucrative contract, donation, campaign contribution, fundraiser, sponsorship/backing, higher paying job, stock options, secret commission, or promotion (rise of position/rank).


title: Bribery

text: One must be careful of differing social and cultural norms when examining bribery. Expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate can differ from place to place. Political campaign contributions in the form of cash, for example, are considered criminal acts of bribery in some countries, while in the United States, provided they adhere to election law, are legal. Tipping, for example, is considered bribery in some societies, while in others the two concepts may not be interchangeable.


title: Bribery

text: In some Spanish-speaking countries, bribes are referred to as "mordida" (literally, "bite"). In Arab countries, bribes may be called baksheesh (a tip, gift, or gratuity) or "shay" (literally, "tea"). French-speaking countries often use the expressions "dessous-de-table" ("under-the-table" commissions), "pot-de-vin" (literally, "wine-pot"), or "commission occulte" ("secret commission" or "kickback"). While the last two expressions contain inherently a negative connotation, the expression "dessous-de-table" can be often understood as a commonly accepted business practice. In German, the common term is "Schmiergeld" ("smoothing money").


title: Bribery

text: The offence may be divided into two great classes: the one, where a person invested with power is induced by payment to use it unjustly; the other, where power is obtained by purchasing the suffrages of those who can impart it. Likewise, the briber might hold a powerful role and control the transaction; or in other cases, a bribe may be effectively extracted from the person paying it, although this is better known as extortion.


title: Bribery

text: The forms that bribery take are numerous. For example, a motorist might bribe a police officer not to issue a ticket for speeding, a citizen seeking paperwork or utility line connections might bribe a functionary for faster service.


title: Bribery

text: Bribery may also take the form of a secret commission, a profit made by an agent, in the course of his employment, without the knowledge of his principal. Euphemisms abound for this (commission, sweetener, kick-back etc.) Bribers and recipients of bribery are likewise numerous although bribers have one common denominator and that is the financial ability to bribe.


title: Bribery

text: As indicated on the pages devoted to political corruption, efforts have been made in recent years by the international community to encourage countries to dissociate and incriminate as separate offences, active and passive bribery. From a legal point of view, active bribery can be defined for instance as "the promising, offering or giving by any person, directly or indirectly, of any undue advantage [to any public official], for himself or herself or for anyone else, for him or her to act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her functions." (article 2 of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173) of the Council of Europe). Passive bribery can be defined as "the request or receipt [by any public official], directly or indirectly, of any undue advantage, for himself or herself or for anyone else, or the acceptance of an offer or a promise of such an advantage, to act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her functions" (article 3 of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173)).


title: Bribery

text: The reason for this dissociation is to make the early steps (offering, promising, requesting an advantage) of a corrupt deal already an offence and, thus, to give a clear signal (from a criminal policy point of view) that bribery is not acceptable. Besides, such a dissociation makes the prosecution of bribery offences easier since it can be very difficult to prove that two parties (the bribe-giver and the bribe-taker) have formally agreed upon a corrupt deal. Besides, there is often no such formal deal but only a mutual understanding, for instance when it is common knowledge in a municipality that to obtain a building permit one has to pay a "fee" to the decision maker to obtain a favourable decision.


title: Bribery

text: When examining the fact of bribe taking, we primarily need to understand that any action is affected by various elements; in addition, all these elements are interrelated. For instance, it would be wrong to indicate that the bribe-taker's motive is greediness as such, without examining causes of appearance of greediness in the personality of the particular bribe-taker. Largely, it is possible to confine oneself to the motive of greediness only in case if a bribe-taker tries to satisfy the primary (physical) needs. Yet, if money serves to satisfy secondary – psychological – needs, we should search for deeper motives of bribe taking.


title: Bribery

text: A grey area may exist when payments to smooth transactions are made. United States law is particularly strict in limiting the ability of businesses to pay for the awarding of contracts by foreign governments; however, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act contains an exception for "grease payments"; very basically, this allows payments to officials in order to obtain the performance of ministerial acts which they are legally required to do, but may delay in the absence of such payment. In some countries, this practice is the norm, often resulting from a developing nation not having the tax structure to pay civil servants an adequate salary. Nevertheless, most economists regard bribery as a bad thing because it encourages rent seeking behaviour. A state where bribery has become a way of life is a kleptocracy.


title: Bribery

text: Recent evidence suggests that the act of bribery can have political consequences- with citizens being asked for bribes becoming less likely to identify with their country, region and/or tribal unit.


title: Bribery

text: The tax status of bribes is an issue for governments since the bribery of government officials impedes the democratic process and may interfere with good government. In some countries, such bribes are considered tax-deductible payments. However, in 1996, in an effort to discourage bribery, the OECD Council recommended that member countries cease to allow the tax-deductibility of bribes to foreign officials. This was followed by the signing of the Anti-Bribery Convention. Since that time, the majority of the OECD countries which are signatories of the convention have revised their tax policies according to this recommendation and some have extended the measures to bribes paid to any official, sending the message that bribery will no longer be tolerated in the operations of the government.


title: Bribery

text: As any monetary benefit received from an illegal activity such as bribery is generally considered part of one's taxable income, however, as it is criminal, some governments may refuse to accept it as income as it may mean they are a party to the activity.


title: Bribery

text: The research conducted in Papua New Guinea reflects cultural norms as the key reason for corruption. Bribery is a pervasive way of carrying out public services in PNG. Papuans don’t consider bribery as an illegal act, they considered bribery as a way of earning “quick money and sustain living”. Moreover, the key findings reflect that when corruption becomes a cultural norm, illegal acts such as bribery are not viewed as bad, and the clear boundaries that once distinguished between legal and illegal acts, and decisions are minimized on opinion, rather than on a code of conduct.


title: Bribery

text: The research conducted in Russia reflects that “bribery is a marginal social phenomenon” in the view of professional jurists and state employees. The Russian law recognizes bribery as an official crime. Consequently, legal platforms such as public courts are the only place where anti-bribery steps are taken in the country. However, in reality, bribery cannot be addressed only by the “law-enforcement agencies and the courts”. Bribery needs to be addressed by informal social norms that set cultural values for the society. Also, the research suggests that the severity of punishment for bribery does very little to prevent people from accepting bribes in Russia. Moreover, the research also revealed that a large number of Russians, approximately 70% to 77% have never given a bribe. Nevertheless, if a need arises to pay a bribe for a problem, the research found that an overwhelming majority of Russians knew both what the sum of the bribe should be and how to deliver the bribe. The Russian bribe problem reflects that unless there is an active change in all parts of society among both young and old, bribery will remain a major problem in Russian society, even when government officials label it as “marginal social phenomenon”.


title: Bribery

text: According to researchers, bribery has a major impact on a country’s trade system. The key findings suggest two possible outcomes when bribery becomes part of country’s export system. First, when firms and government officials are involved in bribery in the home country, the home country’s export increases because incentives are gained through bribery. Second, the home country’s import decreases, because domestic firms lose interest in foreign markets, and minimize their import from other countries. Also, in another study, it was found that firms are willing to risk paying higher bribes if the returns are high, even if it involves “risk and consequences of detection and punishment”. Additionally, other findings show that, in comparison to public firms, private firms pay most bribes abroad.


title: Bribery

text: Pharmaceutical corporations may seek to entice doctors to favor prescribing their drugs over others of comparable effectiveness. If the medicine is prescribed heavily, they may seek to reward the individual through gifts. The American Medical Association has published ethical guidelines for gifts from industry which include the tenet that physicians should not accept gifts if they are given in relation to the physician's prescribing practices. Doubtful cases include grants for traveling to medical conventions that double as tourist trips.


title: Bribery

text: Dentists often receive samples of home dental care products such as toothpaste, which are of negligible value; somewhat ironically, dentists in a television commercial will often state that they get these samples but pay to use the sponsor's product.


title: Bribery

text: In countries offering state-subsidized or nationally funded healthcare where medical professionals are underpaid, patients may use bribery to solicit the standard expected level of medical care. For example, in many formerly Communist countries from what used to be the Eastern Bloc it may be customary to offer expensive gifts to doctors and nurses for the delivery of service at any level of medical care in the non-private health sector.


title: Bribery

text: Politicians receive campaign contributions and other payoffs from powerful corporations, organizations or individuals in return for making choices in the interests of those parties, or in anticipation of favorable policy, also referred to as lobbying. This is not illegal in the United States and forms a major part of campaign finance, though it is sometimes referred to as the money loop. However, in many European countries, a politician accepting money from a corporation whose activities fall under the sector they currently (or are campaigning to be elected to) regulate would be considered a criminal offence, for instance the "Cash-for-questions affair" and "Cash for Honours" in the United Kingdom.


title: Bribery

text: A grey area in these democracies is the so-called "revolving door" in which politicians are offered highly-paid, often consultancy jobs upon their retirement from politics by the corporations they regulate while in office, in return for enacting legislation favourable to the corporation while they are in office, a conflict of interest. Convictions for this form of bribery are easier to obtain with hard evidence, a specific amount of money linked to a specific action by the recipient of the bribe. Such evidence is frequently obtained using undercover agents, since evidence of a quid pro quo relation can often be difficult to prove. See also influence peddling and political corruption.


title: Bribery

text: Recent evidence suggests that demands for bribes can adversely impact citizen level of trust and engagement with the political process.


title: Bribery

text: Employees, managers, or salespeople of a business may offer money or gifts to a potential client in exchange for business.


title: Bribery

text: For example, in 2006, German prosecutors conducted a wide-ranging investigation of Siemens AG to determine if Siemens employees paid bribes in exchange for business.


title: Bribery

text: In some cases where the system of law is not well-implemented, bribes may be a way for companies to continue their businesses. In the case, for example, custom officials may harass a certain firm or production plant, officially stating they are checking for irregularities, halting production or stalling other normal activities of a firm. The disruption may cause losses to the firm that exceed the amount of money to pay off the official. Bribing the officials is a common way to deal with this issue in countries where there exists no firm system of reporting these semi-illegal activities. A third party, known as a White Glove, may be involved to act as a clean middleman.


title: Bribery

text: Specialist consultancies have been set up to help multinational companies and small and medium enterprises with a commitment to anti-corruption to trade more ethically and benefit from compliance with the law.


title: Bribery

text: Contracts based on or involving the payment or transfer of bribes ("corruption money", "secret commissions", "pots-de-vin", "kickbacks") are void.


title: Bribery

text: In addition, a survey conducted by auditing firm Ernst & Young in 2012 found that 15 percent of top financial executives are willing to pay bribes in order to keep or win business. Another 4 percent said they would be willing to misstate financial performance. This alarming indifference represents a huge risk to their business, given their responsibility.


title: Bribery

text: Referees and scoring judges may be offered money, gifts, or other compensation to guarantee a specific outcome in an athletic or other sports competition. A well-known example of this manner of bribery in the sport would be the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal, where the French judge in the pairs competition voted for the Russian skaters in order to secure an advantage for the French skaters in the ice dancing competition.


title: Bribery

text: Additionally, bribes may be offered by cities in order to secure athletic franchises, or even competitions, as happened with the 2002 Winter Olympics. It is common practice for cities to "bid" against each other with stadiums, tax benefits, and licensing deals.