The findings of an independent report on the Baltimore police department's flawed handling of the protests following Freddie Gray's death in April came as little surprise to Michael Wood, a former BPD officer and vocal critic of the department.

"Everybody thinks there is some plan but there is virtually zero control that goes on in the agency," Wood said.

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The dysfunctional department that Wood has described is not far from the picture painted by the Police Executive Research Forum (Perf) in its independent review of the police force's performance. It found inadequate planning, poor training and unclear policies among a long list of "major shortcomings" in the department's response.

The 79-page report notes that the department's priorities for protest, which included the preservation of life, the protection of property, safe traffic flow, and restoration of normal city services, "should also include the protection of the constitutional rights of demonstrators". As it was, "these priorities and the guidelines for implementing them were not shared with operational personnel in the field", according to the report.