Freddie Gray police officer trials cost city $7.5M

Baltimore-area taxpayers will cover an estimated $7.5 million in law enforcement costs related to the trials of police officers acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray. Pictured: A group of sheriff's deputies guard a door at the courthouse after Baltimore City police officer Caesar Goodson was acquitted of all charges for his involvement in the Freddie Gray arrest and death, in Baltimore, Maryland on June 23. Goodson was the driver of the transport van in which Gray suffered his fatal spinal injury and later died in April 2015. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

BALTIMORE, July 29 (UPI) — Baltimore-area taxpayers will cover an estimated $7.5 million in costs related to the trials and acquittals of police officers in the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, city officials said.

The Baltimore Police Department incurred some $7 million in costs, including about $4.5 million in overtime and $2.5 million in supplies that included riot gear. Expenses from the sheriff’s office, which provided security for the courthouses where the trials were held, account for the remaining $500,000, officials said. The expenditure does not include costs incurred by the state’s attorney’s office, including prosecutors’ salaries and expert witnesses.

Prosecutors, earlier this week, dropped all remaining charges against three officers who were awaiting trial in Gray’s death. The 25-year-old man died a week after sustaining a severe spinal injury in the back of a police van.

Three other officers who stood trial in Gray’s death were acquitted. Another trial ended with a hung jury and a retrial had been scheduled for September. All six officers — Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia White and officers Caesar Goodson Jr., William Porter, Garret Miller and Edward Nero — pleaded not guilty.

The officers have been assigned to paid administrative duties until an internal affairs review is completed.

In September, the city approved a $6.4 million settlement with the Gray family and accepted all civil liability.

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