Faith in Action

Last summer, I joined young activists and community leaders like Baltimore NAACP President Marvin “Doc” Cheatham and Delegate Jill Carter in protesting allegations of rape and sexual misconduct by Detective William Welch of the Baltimore City Police Department.  Detective Welch was accused of raping a 16 year old girl inside the Southeastern District Police Station House on July 19, 2006.  Feeling as though there was substantial evidence to validate the allegation by the 16 year old girl; Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm held a press conference announcing the case against 40-year-old Detective William Welch before he was formally charged.  Welch is currently suspended with pay. 

On July 26, 2006, the young activists and I gathered at the front steps of the Baltimore Police Department to decry this horrid act and demanded that the police department implement policy changes that would go further in protecting civilians and officers including video recording devices being placed in all Baltimore City interrogation rooms and having a female officer present at all times when a female suspect is being interrogated.

In addition to speaking out at this protest; I also sent a letter to the editor that was published in The Baltimore Afro American Newspaper. 

You can understand my frustration then when I read an article in today’s Baltimore Sun which reveals that almost a year to the date later; strong evidence connected to this case has been “misplaced” by the Baltimore Police Department’s Evidence Control Unit.

This from the Baltimore Sun:

“…for more than two months, police have been unable to locate the confiscated clothing of Welch and the 16-year-old girl he is accused of assaulting inside a police station house, said Welch’s defense attorney, Warren A. Brown.

Other items, including the rape kit and discarded wipes that a DNA analysis showed to contain genetic material from Welch and the girl, are missing, too, according to a source who is not permitted to talk publicly about the investigation.”

I find this completely inexcusable!  At the least this is just another classic example of the type of mismanagement characteristic of Baltimore City government and law enforcement.  At most this is evidence of a conspiracy by Baltimore police department insiders to protect one of their own who appeared to be headed for jail time.  (How in the world does the Evidence Control Unit “lose” evidence?)

As Baltimore City political leaders and current candidates running for office continuously call for a much improved relationship between the community and the Police Department in fighting crime; they must acknowledge that episodes like this confirm a segment of the community’s perception that the Baltimore Police Department cannot be trusted in no way shape or form. 

And if the evidence is not located in time for the August 6 trial of Detective William Welch, then that perception will take one step closer to becoming a forgone conclusion in Baltimore City.