One of the police officers who once faced charges in connection to Freddie Gray’s death is now overseeing a division with the Baltimore Police Department that investigates complaints of wrongdoing by police officers and civilian employees.
Capt. Alicia White was promoted to the department’s Public Integrity Bureau from the Anti-Crime Section/Gun Violence Unit last week.
White was charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct after 25-year-old Freddie Gray died in police custody in 2015. Gray was arrested over his legal possession of a knife on April 12 of that year, then died a week later from injuries he sustained in custody. An autopsy report revealed his death was caused by a “high-energy” spinal injury.
Gray’s death incited nationwide protests as the country was already grappling with a national reckoning against police brutality following the police killings of other young Black men and boys like Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Harris.
Three of the officers who were charged with Gray’s death were acquitted at trial. So prosecutors dropped the charges against three of the remaining officers who hadn’t faced trial a year after Gray’s death, including White. No one was ever convicted for Gray’s death.
“I still believe that, when I went to work that day, I did everything that I was trained to do,” White told The Baltimore Sun in 2016 after her charges were dismissed. “Unfortunately, that day someone lost their life. But I feel like everything I was trained to do, I did.”
White was the only female cop who was charged in Gray’s death alongside fellow officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero, Brian Rice, Caesar Goodson, and William Porter. All six cops also eventually returned to the department once internal investigations were completed.
White was promoted to the rank of captain in August 2022 before her promotion to the Public Integrity Bureau.
“I am proud of each of these promotees and command members,” Commissioner Richard Worley said in a statement about the recent command changes. “Their diligence, dedication and professionalism are commendable. I am looking forward to our continued efforts in reforming the Department, improving police-community relations and working toward full compliance with the Consent Decree.”
Attorneys for Gray’s family reached a $6.4 million settlement with the city of Baltimore in 2015.
