Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced today that he has requested “an outside, independent review of the organization’s handling of the civil unrest that took place in Baltimore during April and May of 2015.”

The review will be conducted by the Police Executive Review Forum [PERF], according to a media release.

“The process begins tomorrow with a roundtable discussion involving law enforcement agencies from across the region who assisted during the unrest,” the release said. “Their input, as well as the contributions of BPD members, will be the beginning process of the independent evaluation.”

The police department came under criticism by some for its handling of the events that followed the arrest and death in police custody of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in West Baltimore.  Some eyewitnesses said that by converging on Mondawmin Mall in riot gear on April 27, police may have triggered the rioting that broke out after students arrived at the transit hub there and found bus service had been canceled.

Also in the spotlight are their orders to police officers not to engage with rioters later that day.

Stores were looted and burned, vehicles set on fire, rocks and bottles were thrown, officers and protesters injured, protesters were arrested, a curfew was imposed and many blamed the “stand-down” orders for allowing rioting to get out of hand.

“PERF will conduct the review to assess what went right and what needs to improve with how the Baltimore Police Department responded to the civil unrest.”

The police department’s own just-completed internal review of the unrest will be turned over to the PERF investigators as they begin their review, the release said.