Current:Home > InvestNew Baltimore police commissioner confirmed by City Council despite recent challenges -TradeWise
New Baltimore police commissioner confirmed by City Council despite recent challenges
View
Date:2025-04-18 05:29:14
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore City Council on Monday confirmed Richard Worley as the city’s new police commissioner, a leadership change that comes amid an ongoing push for reform of the embattled agency that began after Freddie Gray’s 2015 death.
Mayor Brandon Scott nominated Worley to replace Michael Harrison, who announced his resignation earlier this summer, several months before his five-year contract was set to expire. Harrison led the New Orleans Police Department through a similar reform process before moving to Baltimore.
While Harrison brought an outsider’s perspective to the job, Worley is a Baltimore native and a longtime department veteran. But critics have questioned whether he is too much of an insider, having served in supervisory positions during problematic periods in the department’s history.
They have also expressed concern over two recent high-profile tragedies that unfolded since Worley took over as acting commissioner when Harrison left — including a block party mass shooting in July and, most recently, the brutal murder last week of a local tech entrepreneur whose alleged killer remained at large despite being firmly on the police’s radar.
Since being nominated, Worley has admitted mistakes and repeatedly cited his passion for community policing, which prioritizes building relationships with residents.
“I’ve dedicated my life to serving the Baltimore City Police Department,” he said during a confirmation hearing last month. “I’ve seen the strategies that have worked to help communities thrive and become safer. But I’ve also seen the policies and mandates that have hurt communities.”
The agency was placed under a federal consent decree in 2017 after Justice Department investigators found a pattern of unconstitutional policing, especially targeting Black residents. The decree, which mandates a series of reforms, remains in effect. And Worley has promised to continue prioritizing that reform process.
Less than a month after Harrison stepped down, Baltimore experienced one of the largest mass shootings in its history when gunfire turned an annual neighborhood block party into a scene of terror and bloodshed. Worley has since faced a litany of questions about how his officers failed to respond to south Baltimore’s Brooklyn Homes public housing development in the hours leading up to the shooting, which claimed two lives and left 28 people injured, mostly teens and young adults.
During the hearing last month, council members once again criticized the department’s lackluster response. Worley acknowledged mistakes by some supervisors and reiterated his commitment to ensuring that all of Baltimore’s neighborhoods receive adequate police services, especially overlooked communities suffering from decades of poverty and disinvestment.
Worley served as deputy commissioner under Harrison, a position he achieved after rising through the department’s ranks over the past 25 years. He pursued a law enforcement career after playing baseball in college and the minor leagues.
After the recent killing of Pava LaPere, a 26-year-old tech CEO whose body was found on the roof of her downtown apartment building, Worley defended the department’s actions in the weeks leading up to her death. Police had been actively searching for her alleged killer, Jason Billingsley, since he was identified as a suspect in a Sept. 19 rape and arson. But they released few details about the crime, which left a woman and man hospitalized with serious burns, and they didn’t alert the community that Billingsley posed a potential public safety risk.
That is because they didn’t believe he was committing “random acts” of violence at the time, Worley told reporters last week, while also admitting that “hindsight’s 20/20.”
The killing marked an exceedingly rare random homicide in a city that has made notable progress in reversing its murder rate over the past several months. So far in 2023, Baltimore homicides are down about 16% compared with this time last year.
While only one council member voted against confirming Worley at a meeting Monday night, several members described their reservations, pledging to hold him accountable moving forward. After the vote, a small group of activists erupted in angry chants. They were escorted out of council chambers screaming.
veryGood! (77)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Controversial Influencer Andrew Tate and Brother Tristan Released From Romanian Jail
- Vanderpump Rules' Oliver Saunders Defends Raquel Leviss Amid Tom Sandoval Affair
- Exxon Lobbyist Caught On Video Talking About Undermining Biden's Climate Push
- Sam Taylor
- U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake detained in Moscow on drug charges
- At least 78 dead and dozens feared missing after fishing boat sinks off Greece
- Nordstrom Rack Handbag Deals: Save 61% on Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, Longchamp, Vince Camuto and More
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Tackling 'Energy Justice' Requires Better Data. These Researchers Are On It
Ranking
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- American woman injured in fatal attack on fellow American tourist near German castle released from hospital
- Love Is Blind's Bliss Got Into a Fight With Irina Over Grilled Cheese That Didn't Make the Show
- Love Is Blind Is Getting Its First-Ever Live Reunion Special: All the Details
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Pope Francis out of hospital 9 days after abdominal surgery: Better than before
- Avril Lavigne Holds Tyga Close During Bike Ride in Malibu
- American woman injured in fatal attack on fellow American tourist near German castle released from hospital
Recommendation
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Woman declared dead knocks on coffin during her own wake in Ecuador: It gave us all a fright
Avril Lavigne Holds Tyga Close During Bike Ride in Malibu
Bella Hadid Shares Insight Into Her Battle With Depression and Fatigue Amid Lyme Disease Journey
Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson quits politics after being sanctioned for misleading Parliament
Why Scarlett Johansson Calls Motherhood an Emotionally Abusive Relationship
Nordstrom Jaw-Dropping 75% Off Spring Sale Has Deals on Levi's, Madewell, Vince Camuto & More