Just one day after Baltimore Police Commissioner nominee Joel Fitzgerald stepped away from the position, Mayor Catherine Pugh has already found his replacement. New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison will be the new commissioner-designate for the BPD. After serving 27 years on the New Orleans Police force, and leading them since 2014, Harrison says that he’s honored to be selected and is looking forward to engaging with the residents.

“My first priority will be to drive meaningful cultural change within the department such that not only is there a renewed sense of purpose and mission among those sworn to protect and serve, but that citizens’ trust is restored to a new level that enables true collaboration and confidence,” Harrison said in a statement. “Only then can we make sustained progress in reducing violence in close partnership with those who have the most at stake.”

Mayor Pugh says that her decision was made based on his experiences and assistance with crime reduction in New Orleans—a city that is similar to Baltimore demographically and in terms of homicide rates. Since joining the New Orleans Police Department in 1991 as a patrol officer, Harrison has worked as a major case narcotics detective, lieutenant of the Public Integrity Bureau, and a commander for special investigations. In these roles, he has implemented a consent decree similar to the one in Baltimore enforcing new-aged constitutional policing while increasing recruitment numbers.

“He will bring not only significant and relevant experience to addressing the challenges of Baltimore, but the insight and sensitivity needed to reestablish essential trust and confidence of citizens in their police officers,” said Mayor Pugh in a statement.

The transition from New Orleans to Baltimore should be fairly seamless for Harrison on January 8 when he begins his new role and here’s why:

Like New Orleans, Baltimore is operating under a federal consent decree.
While New Orleans is further along—the Louisiana city’s consent decree was implemented in 2013—both cities struggle similarly with exorbitant homicide rates. During the federal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, like Baltimore, New Orleans also experienced longstanding patterns of racial profiling and excessive force within the city’s police force.

Both cities are top five in the country for highest murder rates.
Baltimore sits at number two while New Orleans holds the fourth spot. Under Harrison’s leadership, the city saw a 7-percent reduction in the number of murders and a 28-percent reduction in the number in non-fatal shootings in 2018. The reduction in violent crime was due in large part to Harrison’s deployment of policing strategies like the Tactical Intelligence Gathering and Enforcement Response (TIGER) that focuses on those who are repeat offenders rather than targeting specific areas.

BPD recruitment numbers have decreased just like in New Orleans.
Baltimore saw a significant increase in officer departures in 2015 following the unrest and death of Freddie Gray in police custody. That year, the BPD experienced a net loss of 158 officers and, according to a report earlier this year, the department has 500 fewer sworn officers in 2018 than it did in 2012. Similarly, prior to 2014 in New Orleans, the city experienced this downward trend in retaining police officers.

Harrison combated this by increasing the number of academy classes, completely overhauling the recruitment process, and increasing the number of resources dedicated to recruit more officers, which lead to a 60 percent increase in 2017 from the prior year.

Baltimore residents just want to feel safe.
Harrison’s experience with a federal consent decree is ideal for Baltimore’s next police commissioner. In a survey conducted by the New Orleans Crime Coalition, 83 percent of residents said they feel safe in their own neighborhoods—a vast improvement due to the implementation of the strategies in the consent decree. Here in Baltimore, we all want that.

Last week, it was revealed that Baltimore City police commissioner Darryl De Sousa failed to file federal taxes for three years. Federal prosecutors have charged him with three misdemeanor counts for failure to file for 2013, 2014, and 2015. De Sousa faces up to one year in prison and a $25,000 fine for each count. Upon learning the news, Mayor Catherine Pugh expressed her support for the commissioner, but later placed him on paid administrative leave.

Today, Pugh released a statement announcing the resignation of Chief De Sousa from his position as police commissioner after less than five months.

“I want to reassure all Baltimoreans that this development in no way alters our strategic efforts to reduce crime by addressing its root causes in our most neglected neighborhoods,” she said in a statement. “This broad-based, grassroots approach—underpinned by the utilization of new crime-fighting technology—is working and will continue to be effective as indicated by the downward trend in violence.”

The mayor has also said that she is actively searching to find a replacement, but Deputy Commissioner Gary Tuggle—who was named acting commissioner on May 11 following De Sousa’s suspension—will serve in the interim. 

“The Baltimore Police command staff is fully committed to bringing about the reforms to the practices and culture of the department that we are implementing, and which are vital to ensuring the trust and confidence of all our citizens,” Pugh said. “As mayor, I will not let up in pursuing my top priority of making our city safe and our neighborhoods worthy of the lives of all residents.”

This afternoon, Tuggle sent an internal memo to the BPD staff to thank them for their professionalism and to reinforce his focus on crime and the well-being of the city during his interim. 

“The sworn and civilian staff here have done a great job and the results of your hard work continues to show as we have seen across the board reductions in violent crime,” he said. “We have a long way to go, but I know you are all up for the challenge. Thank you for your professionalism during these tough times. We will succeed because you all are the professionals who keep our agency moving forward.”

The information about De Sousa’s taxes is causing the public to wonder why this wasn’t detected during the city council’s confirmation hearings last February following his appointment as police commissioner on January 19, the same day Pugh terminated then-police commissioner Kevin Davis citing increased spikes in crime. 

“One of the lessons that we’ve learned clearly is that Baltimore City and this administration needs to be bit more invasive in examining candidates for high level, highly responsible positions,” city solicitor Andre Davis told The Sun. “We’re going to ask more questions, more pointed questions, more focused questions and we’re going to broaden the areas into which we make inquiry.”

Two other officials under Pugh recently resigned after questions were raised about their backgrounds. In March, her spokesman Darryl Strange quit just hours after being introduced due to three lawsuits filed against him when he was a police officer. Earlier this month, the city’s new deputy civil rights director, Charles G. Byrd Jr., also resigned amidst questions about his disbarment last year.

De Sousa admitted on Twitter that he willingly failed to file his federal and state taxes for three years and is currently working to satisfy his past requirements.

“While there is no excuse for my failure to fulfill my obligations as a citizen and public official,” he said. “My only explanation is that I’ve failed to sufficiently prioritize my personal affairs. Naturally, this is a source of embarrassment for me and I deeply regret any embarrassment it has caused the police department and the City of Baltimore.”

Although the position of police commissioner has a historically high turnover rate in Baltimore, De Sousa’s is one of the shortest tenures. Due to his long career in the city, he had support of many community organizations and city leaders. Councilman Brandon Scott, who supported De Sousa’s hiring, was disappointed when he learned of the charges but says the city can’t “afford those types of distractions.”

“We don’t need any distractions away from reducing the violence in the city and from reforming the police department,” he said. “This is a perfect time for increased community oversight of the police department and its policies. This just shows that we should have done this a long time ago.” 

On Friday morning, Mayor Catherine Pugh announced that she would be replacing Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis with 30-year BPD Deputy Commissioner Darryl D. DeSousa effective immediately. Pugh asserted that the crime in Baltimore needs to be eradicated at faster and Davis is simply not getting the job done.

DeSousa will assume the responsibilities for the police department immediately as the city’s 40th police commissioner, and following appropriate measures, his appointment will be made permanent.   

“My decision is because I’m impatient,” Mayor Pugh said at a press conference Friday morning. “And we need to get these numbers down now. The fact is, we are not achieving the pace of progress that our residents have every right to expect in the weeks since we ended what was nearly a record year for homicides in the City of Baltimore. As such, I have concluded that a change in leadership is needed at police headquarters.”

Commissioner Davis, who was made aware of his dismissal Friday morning, was appointed to his position in 2015 after then Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired Commissioner Anthony Batts in the wake of rioting that flooded the city’s streets during the Baltimore Uprising.

“I am grateful to Commissioner Davis for all that he has done to implement the initiatives underway to address violent crime at its root causes,” Pugh said. “I speak for the entire community in expressing our admiration and gratitude for his service to Baltimore and for his leadership of the women and men who put their lives on the line to serve and protect our citizens.”

DeSousa, a New York City native, came to Baltimore in 1983 to attend Morgan State University and joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1988. Since joining the force, he’s held many positions with the department over the years, including Area Commander of the Neighborhood Patrol Division, and Chief of Patrol. He was appointed Deputy Police Commissioner in 2015.

“I am deeply honored by the Mayor’s confidence in me at this critical time in the life of our city,” DeSousa said. “Baltimore has long been my home and I’ve spent my career on its streets and in its neighborhoods to address problems and bring about solutions that are meaningful for the people we serve. I am committed to this important work more than ever and look forward to validating the trust of Mayor Pugh, my fellow officers, and most importantly, the citizens of Baltimore each and every day.”

Commissioner-Designate DeSousa has already begun working in his new position. As of 9 a.m. Friday, a new initiative that places uniformed police officers on the streets hourly has unrolled. The officers have been placed in strategic locations with high violence and will patrol the areas until midnight. The patrol-focused DeSousa assures that this type of “proactive constitutional policing” will help to accelerate the reduction of violence around the city.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said. “Violence reduction is the first priority, the second priority, and the third priority. We are focused on the repeat offenders and the trigger pullers—we know who they are and we’re coming after them.”