On April 12, Freddie Gray was arrested. Some police officers have argued that the police chased Gray because he fled the scene even though officers had not approached him. After he was caught and cuffed, police found a small knife in his pocket. Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby has said that running from police after making eye contact with them is not probable cause to give chase. She also said that the knife Gray was carrying was legal in Maryland.
Some police officers see the case differently, and as such, "city officials are set to pay $50,000 to a local law firm to better train police officers on how to legally stop people they encounter, among other topics," the Baltimore Sun reports.
According to the Sun, Baltimore will use a federal grant to pay a third party, believed to be "Warnken LLC, headed by University of Baltimore law professor Byron Warnken," $50,000 to train officers on Maryland law, including stops, stop and frisks and "what police can and should do."
The Board of Estimates is expected to award the contract on Wednesday.
The training will be a 12-hour program that is expected to begin Wednesday and run until June 30.
Warnken told the Sun that he was asked to do the training before the Gray incident happened. He added: "Maryland law holds that running in the sight of police is not enough for probable cause." A charging document viewed by the Sun noted that Gray was apprehended because "he fled unprovoked."
"Training has been a top priority of this administration and has been in the works since State's Attorney Mosby took office," Rochelle Ritchie, a spokeswoman for Mosby, told the Sun.
Read more at the Baltimore Sun.