City approves spending for officer funeral, shooting investigation
The Baltimore Board of Estimates on Wednesday morning approved $45,000 that the Police Department spent on the funeral of Officer William Torbit, as well as $75,000 requested for the commission appointed to investigate his death.
Torbit was fatally shot by fellow officers in January after responding in plainclothes to a disturbance outside the Select Lounge. Torbit was said to have been overcome by an unruly crowd, and fired his service weapon, killing civilian Sean Gamble. Other officers in the area instinctively returned fire, killing Torbit, according to reports.
[Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron]
Police officials initially said the investigation into the shooting would take three weeks, but it dragged on for about two months. A police spokesman said a final report was handed to Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III last week, and a task force of experts appointed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has begun reviewing the findings and will make recommendations.
The Sun's City Hall reporter, Julie Scharper, asked Rawlings-Blake about the expenditures:
Asked whether she was comfortable with the investigation into Torbit's death, Rawlings-Blake said, "I'm satisfied that the investigation is thorough."
She said the independent task force was focused on an expedient yet thorough investigation.
"It's very important to me to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again," said Rawlings-Blake. "That's what Officer Torbit's mother asked of me."
Rawlings-Blake said the task force had requested staff support in a meeting with her and Bealefeld, which represents the bulk of the $75,000 commitment. Commission members will also be reimbursed for expenses, officials have said.
The funeral costs, meanwhile, far exceed the average costs of a traditional service, which are typically pegged at around $10,000. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he did not know how much previous officer funerals had cost the department, though the cost for Torbit's service was increased when his family requested features such as a horse-drawn carriage.
Categories: City Hall, Downtown, Police shootings, Top brass
Comments
I certainly respect the police and understand that the job they do every day to keep me and mine safe puts them at risk. I appreciate that his officer's family wanted to send him off with dignity. But this--the doves, the Venetian bronze casket, the $9,000 brochures--is obscene and offensive to this taxpayer. If the funds were directed to a scholarship fund for his children, I would feel different. I hope there is a way to renegotiate this sum and pay a reasonable amount for an appropriate funeral. No doves.
Posted by: Guide for the Perplexed | April 8, 2011 1:13 PM
Will never had the opportunity to have children....and he never will. I am a tax payer myself. Infact I owe most peoples salary when I file, he deserved to be carried home the way his family saw fit. That is the least we could do.
Posted by: Felicia | April 12, 2011 7:30 PM