BALTIMORE (AP) - The chief of staff to the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department has testified that six updated policies were sent to all agency members just days before the arrest of Freddie Gray.
One of the updates required officers to buckle all detainees in seat belts and to obtain medical care for them "when necessary or requested."
Prosecutors say Officer William Porter is partially responsible for Gray's death because he didn't buckle the man in a seatbelt and failed to call a medic despite Gray's repeated requests.
Capt. Martin Bartness said the updated orders replaced a previous policy from 1997. That policy provided officers with slightly more leeway, instructing them to buckle detainees in seat belts but to prioritize their own safety. The new order leaves no ambiguity. Bartness read the policy aloud.
Another Detective Testifies
The lead detective who investigated Freddie Gray's injuries after his neck was broken in the back of a police van is expected to finish testifying in the first trial of one of the officers charged in Gray's death.
Detective Syreeta Teel initially took the stand Thursday afternoon, and should resume her testimony Friday morning.
Teel has testified she spoke with Officer William Porter at the Western District station house, where Gray was discovered unresponsive and rushed to a hospital. She told jurors she saw Gray in the hospital before returning to West Baltimore to canvas the neighborhood for information.
Teel was the last of eight witnesses the state called Thursday, the second day of testimony.
