Baltimore's new state's attorney, Gregg L. Bernstein, got elected by promising that his close alliance with police would help make the city safer. Opponents warned of an end to prosecutorial oversight that would let cops run roughshod over city residents.

What no one expected, Peter Hermann writes, was a case that could not only pit the community against police but also police against police. The Jan. 9 fatal shooting of plainclothes Officer William H. Torbit Jr. by four of his colleagues who mistook him for a suspect is the top prosecutor's first test, occurring just days after he took office.

Was Torbit wrong to fatally shoot unarmed civilian Sean Gamble six to eight times in the chest during a fight? Were four uniformed officers wrong to open fire on Torbit, not knowing he was a fellow cop? Three civilians were also wounded in the fracas.

Already, the mayor's decision to allow an outside review has sparked anger at the police union hall and added a new political dimension to the case. Bernstein's wife, Sheryl Goldstein, is the mayor's chief advisor on crime issues, and the order from City Hall for independent oversight on police policies and practices comes as her husband has to decide whether the officers involved committed any crimes.