New Policy Will Affect Future Victims and Can Be a Model for Other Cities

Washington, DC – Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, alongside co-counsel at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, announced the settlement of a class action lawsuit with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) in Cottman vs. Baltimore Police Department, a case alleging that the department’s practice of searching and seizing the personal property of shooting victims without a warrant or consent violates victims’ constitutional rights. The property seized includes clothes, jewelry, phones, shoes, cash, and more. As part of the settlement terms, the police department adopted a new policy plaintiffs agreed to that will benefit victims…