*(Via Baltimore Sun) – Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts Wednesday, saying his presence had become a distraction in a city that needs to focus on ending a dramatic spike in homicides.
“Too many continue to die on our streets, including three just last night and one lost earlier today,” Rawlings-Blake said. “Families are tired of feeling this pain, and so am I. … We need a change.”
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. And the city’s police union was poised to hold a no-confidence vote next week.
Batts was under attack on multiple fronts amid the disclosure that some police stations have been closed to the public after 7 p.m. and news that three people were shot to death Tuesday night near the University of Maryland’s downtown campus. On Wednesday morning, the Fraternal Order of Police issued a highly critical report of police leadership during the recent rioting.
In her late afternoon news conference, Rawlings-Blake said she was responding not to that report, but to her concern about continued violence. “Recent events have placed an intense focus on our police leadership, distracting many from what needs to be our main focus, the fight against crime,” she said.
Her timing surprised some. Just hours before announcing that she had fired Batts, the mayor’s office issued a statement denouncing the union’s report as “no more than a trumped up political document full of baseless accusations, finger pointing and personal attacks.”
Get the FULL story at the Baltimore Sun.
Watch as Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake outlines the firing of Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts:
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