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Justice Department says Baltimore FOP president declined meeting on consent decree

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The president of the Baltimore chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police declined to meet with the U.S. Justice Department over reforms to the Baltimore Police department, an official with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said Friday. 

A spokeswoman for the department said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta proposed a meeting with the union's leadership as a consent decree on the reforms was announced, but was told no. 

An FOP spokesman said the meeting was a "late invite" and FOP President Lt. Gene Ryan already had a full schedule, and declined to meet.

On Thursday, Baltimore Mayor Pugh and Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a consent decree had been filed regarding reforms to the police department. 

RELATED: Mayor, feds announce consent decree for Baltimore Police

Ryan declined to comment specifically on the agreement in a statement released Thursday, but said, "Despite continued assurances by representatives of the Department of Justice that our organization would be included in the Consent Decree negotiations, no request to participate was ever forthcoming and we were not involved in the process." 
 

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