The Justice Department plans to launch a pattern or practice investigation into the methods of the Baltimore Police Department, in the wake of the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, a law enforcement source told CNN on Thursday.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch will announce a civil rights “law enforcement action” at a Washington press conference Friday morning, the department announced in a statement.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had requested the investigation into the city’s police department, similar to the probe conducted in Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting death of Michael Brown last summer, earlier this week when Lynch was in town.
Gray suffered a fatal injury to his spine while in police custody under unclear circumstances. Six officers have been arrested and face charges, ranging from false imprisonment to murder.