In April 2015, the streets of Baltimore became the epicenter of national outrage after Freddie Gray’s death from injuries sustained in police custody. Ten years later, the problems of police misconduct continue to haunt Baltimore.

The Department of Justice investigation that followed Gray’s death confirmed what Black Baltimoreans had testified to for generations: a pattern of unconstitutional stops, searches conducted without probable cause and force used disproportionately against Black individuals.

As a result of the DOJ’s scathing report that identified patterns and practices of unconstitutional behaviors, the Baltimore Police Department entered into a consent decree with the DOJ to reform policing practices.

The consent decree sought to enhance accountability and community relations. It was heralded as a watershed moment, a legally binding document to transform a police department with a troubled history. However, transformative change requires more than signatures on paper.

Mothers continue to console their teenage sons after they were thrown against a wall during a “routine stop” in Sandtown-Winchester. The internal affairs complaint that follows will likely join thousands of others in administrative purgatory. Yet again, another young person learns that in Baltimore, some promises are never kept. Continuing to do nothing is unacceptable.

The Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) has laid out a comprehensive roadmap for meaningful reform. In March, the MEJC put forth a report containing 18 specific recommendations designed to address the systemic inequities plaguing our criminal justice system, particularly the devastating over-incarceration of Black Marylanders.

This isn’t just another report destined to collect dust. It is an evidence-based roadmap backed by data analysis that confronts the reality of racial disparity in Maryland.

The MEJC’s proposals offer concrete steps toward dismantling inequality structures developed by those who understand the system most intimately: community advocates, legal experts and directly impacted persons.

The report calls for immediately reducing unnecessary police encounters that too often escalate to violence. Its push for community-controlled crisis response teams would provide alternatives to armed intervention for mental health emergencies, and MEJC’s advocacy for reallocating resources from enforcement to prevention addresses root causes rather than symptoms. The recommendations do not stop at policing.

They include demands for a comprehensive examination of racial and geographic disparities at every step in the criminal legal process, from arrest to parole.

These meticulously researched recommendations provide a new way forward.

The current approach to police reform resembles renovating a house with a crumbling foundation. Body cameras, diversity training and community liaisons represent necessary but insufficient improvements to a system fundamentally designed to control rather than serve certain communities. The architecture of oppression cannot simply be redecorated; it must be rebuilt.

What would meaningful reform look like in practice? Civilian oversight with actual teeth is a start. Baltimore City’s Civilian Review Board needs full subpoena power, independent investigators and the authority to implement disciplinary measures, not simply make recommendations to the same department under investigation. Police accountability cannot be left to the police themselves.

Second, transparency must be a non-negotiable policy. A public database of officer conduct records would ensure that every complaint, every use of force incident and every stop-and-frisk statistic becomes publicly accessible in real time.

Sunlight remains the best disinfectant for institutional corruption.

Third, budget priorities that reflect community needs. When Baltimore invests more in policing than education, housing, mental health services, addiction treatment and youth programs combined, it is the treatment of symptoms while ignoring the disease.

Critics will say Baltimore cannot afford it. We cannot continue as we are.

Each lawsuit settlement for police misconduct represents both justice denied and resources diverted from schools, recreation centers and public health initiatives.

Children growing up in Baltimore neighborhoods pay the cost of inaction daily, where badges inspire fear rather than security.

It is paid by business owners whose customers avoid areas with heavy police presence or avoid downtown altogether. It is paid in the community trust that erodes with each viral video of another encounter gone wrong.

Freddie Gray’s Baltimore stands at a pivotal moment. The national spotlight has dimmed, but our responsibility has not.

We can either accept symbolic gestures and incremental changes as “good enough” or demand the transformative change our communities deserve — starting with fully implementing the 18 MEJC recommendations that provide a data-backed path forward.

The MEJC report calls on all Marylanders to confront the reality of racial disparity in our criminal legal system and mobilize for meaningful reform. This isn’t just Baltimore’s fight but Maryland’s moral imperative.

For the mother in Sandtown consoling her son, for the memory of Freddie Gray and for a Baltimore where public safety means everyone feels safe — including those sworn to protect them — the time for half-measures has long passed. The MEJC has given us the roadmap with its 18 recommendations. Now, we need the will to bring life into the words.

Natasha Dartigue (Natasha.dartigue@maryland.gov) is public defender for Maryland and co-chair of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative.