(Photo: The Baltimore Sun)
Yvonne Wenger of the Baltimore Sun is reporting Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has fired police commissioner Anthony W. Batts due to the surge in violence in Charm City. Wenger reports:
“We cannot grow Baltimore without making our city a safer place to live,” Rawlings-Blake said at a press conference at City Hall. “We need a change. This was not an easy decision, but it is one that is in the best interest of the people of Baltimore. The people of Baltimore deserve better.”
Rawlings-Blake named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis interim commissioner, effective immediately.
The post-riot violence to which Mayor Rawlings-Blake is referring includes the deaths of three people in a quadruple shooting near the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Tuesday night.
Baltimore city recorded 42 homicides in May, the deadliest month in 25 years. There have been 31 homicides in the past month.
The announcement came shortly after the Fraternal Order of Police released a report criticizing the leadership of the Baltimore Police department.
Read more at the Baltimore Sun.
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