EXCLUSIVE: Marilyn Mosby's police officer family members used cocaine
WASHINGTON -
Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, catapulted to national fame when she decided in early May to
prosecute six police officers for the death of Freddie Gray. In her remarks, Mosby used her family of Boston police officers as a shield against critics who said she could not fairly prosecute the case.
“To the rank-and-file officers of the Baltimore City Police Department, please know that these accusations of these six officers are not an indictment on the entire force,” said Mosby. “I come from five generations of law enforcement. My father was an officer. My mother was an officer. Several of my aunts and uncles.”
Sources told me to look into Mosby’s family’s personnel records at the Boston Police Department. Two months ago, I put in Public Records Law request for personnel records for Mosby's mother and two uncles.
When I finally got the response from Boston police, it was a big stack of paper.
Mosby's mother, Linda Thompson, had nine disciplinary actions against her in her 20 years on the force.
The Boston Police Department turned over a document that shows she violated the “substance abuse policy” in 2006. A source familiar with the incident said that Thompson tested positive for cocaine.
The police department does an annual hair test to check for drugs used in the months around an officer’s birthday.
Thompson accepted the 45-day suspension, which meant she agreed to go to a drug rehab.
In 2003, Linda Thompson was suspended for “using profane language toward a superior” and for her “refusal to leave a restricted area.”
Other records show she was suspended for two separate incidents in 1996 for not “reporting for duty” and “neglect of duty” -- among other charges.
Boston Police Internal Affairs launched an investigation in 1990 into various charges, which a police source told us indicated she lost her police gun. After a hearing, Linda was suspended in 1993 for it.
Mosby’s father, Alan James, was fired from the Boston Police Department in 1991 on the same day he was acquitted by a jury for assault and robbery. According to an article in the Boston Globe at the time, the police commissioner fired him for "conduct unbecoming an officer.”
Preston Thompson, who is Linda Thompson’s brother and Mosby’s uncle, was fired in 2001 for using cocaine. His record says he was on disability when he was charged with “substance abuse policy – two counts,” “conformance to laws - two counts” and “conduct - two counts.”
According to Boston police policy, you get fired after the second time you test positive for drugs.
However, Preston Thompson then filed a lawsuit against BPD challenging the termination. In a court document, he asserted that hair drug tests don't prove you ingested the cocaine and could get on your from various ways, including "vapors."
The lawsuit also alleged that “BPD hair testing process had a disparate impact on African Americans.” The plaintiffs added that “hair color, racial and/or ‘cultural’ factors, biased the results of a hair drug test, due to the differences in the melanin content, structure and cosmetic treatment of black and African hair versus brown and blonde hair.”
Preston's brother, Harry Thompson, was also fired from the Boston Police Department. That uncle of Marilyn Mosby was terminated in 1991 after a hearing for three charges from the same event – “conduct unbecoming an officer,” “inaccurate reports” and “unreasonable judgment.” Sources familiar with the BPD polices say that violating these rules alone generally doesn’t get you fired.
I called Harry Thompson on Tuesday. He said that, "Any inaccuracies in your story, you will hear from a lawyer." I offered to tell him what I was reporting about his police records, but he declined.
Mosby continues to use her police officer family as a badge of honor. In an interview with CNN, she said, "I come from five generations of police officers, so law enforcement is instilled."
I asked Mosby’s spokeswoman in the state’s attorney’s office, Rochelle Ritchie, for a comment on this new information. She told me she would get back to me, but she never called back.
There are a few crooked cops in every police force who abuse their badges. Their abuse of power is the reason for the tension between police and community that erupted into violent riots in Baltimore. Mosby’s family of police officers, who don’t obey the laws themselves, epitomize what needs to change to bring peace in the cities
