A U.S. judge on Friday approved an agreement to overhaul Baltimore's beleaguered police department, including changes in training and the use of force after officers were found to have routinely harassed minorities. The consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice won approval two years after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died while in Baltimore police custody, plunged the city into unrest and led to a surge in murders and other violent crime. U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore wrote that the 227-page decree, hammered out in the waning days of President Barack Obama's administration, was "comprehensive, detailed, and precise" and served the public interest.



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