BALTIMOREPOLICEDEPARTMENT

OFFICE OF THE POLICE COMMISSIONER

MEDIA RELATIONS SECTION

Anthony W. Batts
Police Commissioner

Captain J. Eric Kowalczyk

Director

Baltimore Police Department

Agency Separations & Terminations
Baltimore, MD, June 3, 2015 There has been reporting recently on statements
that have been made by Police Commissioner Anthony Batts regarding forced
separations from this agency. When the Police Commissioner arrived in
Baltimore in September of 2012 he was asked by the Mayor to assist in
reforming the organization. The Baltimore Police Department was in need of
change, the primary focus of change was to rebuild trust, trust in the
community and to also build a stronger and better police department internally.
The Police Commissioner has said he will back his officers who do a good job,
officers who make mistakes but their hearts are in the right places. The
Commissioner has further stated that he has no tolerance for officers who have
malice in their hearts and wish to harm the community. In law enforcement in
particular it is necessary to recognize those individuals, to take the opportunity
to train and mentor them or as circumstances necessitate to terminate.
Under the Police Commissioners tenure there have been a total of 72 forced
separations from the agency. Twenty-six of those separations are terminations.
The remaining forty-six are individuals who resigned or retired in lieu of
termination. These are individuals who have been internally charged with
misconduct, false statements, criminal activities, neglecting their duty and
other offenses. Had these individuals remained on the department and had not
retired or resigned they would have been terminated. These numbers do not
include the hundreds of officers who have nobly served their department, this
profession and this community who resigned or retired in good standing.
The forced separations assist in building trust both in the community and
within the department. The community is able to tangibly see that their
concerns and complaints have been heard and those individuals who have
caused harm have been identified and are no longer law enforcement officers.
The Baltimore Police Department will not tolerate misconduct and will not
tolerate individuals who tarnish the relationship that thousands of dedicated
officers have risked their lives to build. The Baltimore Police Department takes
pride in its officers who should hold their heads high with the respect each and
every one of them deserves. Police Commissioner Batts applauds those
courageous and hardworking officers.

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