The acquittal Monday of Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero on charges relating to Freddie Gray’s death should not be seen as a vindication of the police department, its policies, its training or its oversight of officers.

Criminal trials are pending for five other officers in the April 12, 2015, death of Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury after he was arrested, shackled and loaded into a police van without a safety restraint. But those verdicts likewise will serve neither to uphold current police practices nor brand the entire department as criminal.

In Baltimore and elsewhere, stories are told of “rough rides” in police vans that officers intentionally mete out to suspects as a brazen and certainly unlawful display of power. Surely there is criminal culpability to be found if that’s what fatally injured Gray.

But what if Gray’s treatment was the result of inadequate leadership, unprepared officers and a series of basic failures in procedure, all exacerbated by lax oversight and discipline? There might be no crime – and yet the city might still have been providing policing that is so inadequate as to be what can only be deemed criminally deficient.

Gray’s death has led to an examination of police practices in Baltimore and other cities. Both Nero’s trial and one earlier this year that resulted in a mistrial have produced testimony about the Baltimore Police Department’s inconsistent application of standards and nonrigorous training.

The mayor and police commissioner have taken some first steps to improve oversight. The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the department’s civil rights record. Acquittals do not obviate the need for such scrutiny and reform. Convictions cannot substitute for it.

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