Following April riots, Baltimore mayor sacks city’s police chief

“We are clear that the level of violence in this city is out of control and a change needed to happen”, said Rev. Glenna Huber, BUILD. Batts and the police union denied that officers were shirking their duties but acknowledged that police are raging, frustrated and fearful in light of the Gray case of being second-guessed and prosecuted. “For the police union and officers, they’re alienated, and the concern is that the cops will be further alienated”, O’Donnell said. Six police officers have been criminally charged in Gray’s death.

The firing comes two and a half months after the city broke out into riots following the death of Freddie Gray, who died in April of injuries he received in police custody. Last fall the Baltimore Sun reported that the the city had paid out $5.7 million since 2011 to settle lawsuits over allegations of police brutality.

Batts had more than three decades of experience in law enforcement, as indicated by his biography on the Baltimore Police Department website.

Peter Moskos, also with John Jay College and a former Baltimore police officer, said the Gray case led police officers to question whether the department had their backs. It’s a culmination of missteps and outright malfeasance that ex- cops say has created a department on the brink of dissembling. “If none of the rank and file thinks you’re competent, it’s as good as being incompetent”.

The mayor’s decision to replace Batts on an interim basis with Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis – effective immediately – came as the City Council was preparing to send her a letter calling for Batts’ resignation. During the news conference acting Commissioner Davis outlined his priorities: go after the relatively small number of hard-core criminals responsible for the city’s deadly violence, improve the department’s relationship with the public, and boost morale within the force. He added that he would like to remain in the position permanently.

“We have a profession with authority that no other profession has”, Davis said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. We can take a human life if justification exists to do so. Circulating this rumor undermined the credibility of law enforcement and unnecessarily inflamed tensions… We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments — either by the same reader or different readers. “Those aren’t mutually exclusive”.

The US Justice Department is conducting a civil rights review of The Department and Batts announced Tuesday that an outside organization would review the police response to The unrest. “The people of Baltimore deserve better”.

Ex- Chief Larry Tolliver used a gay slur and was accused of retaliating against officers who testified against Leopold during that executive’s misconduct trial, the newspaper reports. “Police departments and their cultures have been reformed”.