The Police Department ousted its top leadership yesterday in the Central District, a move that comes amid violent attacks in the downtown area and one day after The Baltimore Sun reported that officers had failed to properly handle the robbery of a nanny in Bolton Hill.
Maj. John Bailey, a 35-year veteran, and his second in command, Deputy Maj. Avon Mackell, a 21-year veteran, were stripped of their command positions after what sources described as a particularly heated exchange with department leadership after a woman was choked and robbed of an iPod while she walked with a baby Monday afternoon.
At the department's weekly Comstat meeting, in which commanders discuss crime trends, Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale demanded to know why officers had failed initially to take a report from the 24-year-old woman and why supervisors had not caught the error, sources said. At one point, Barksdale stormed out of the meeting, the sources said.
The shake-up appears to be an effort by police leadership to take a tougher stance against underreporting of crimes, with commanders also being warned that a new internal affairs chief would root out officers who downgrade or fail to report incidents.
The Central District has seen one of the largest drops in crime so far this year, according to department statistics. But there have been reports of a number of apparently random attacks on residents and tourists by groups of juveniles, and police have been trying different strategies to quell early-morning disturbances linked to the downtown bar and club scene. City officials have mounted a public relations blitz to reassure visitors that the harbor area is safe.
Deputy Maj. Dennis Smith of the Northern District was appointed to replace Bailey, effective immediately, the department said in a news release.
Mayor Sheila Dixon said the Central District continues to be one of the city's safest areas. But when police commanders and others are repeatedly reminded to do better and they don't, "there is a need to make some changes," she said.
"I have talked with the commissioner, and I know that he is concerned by what is happening in the Central [District]," Dixon said shortly before the changes were announced. "He is very frustrated, and he is going to be making some changes."
Robert F. Cherry, president of the city police union, said it was unusual for a district's major and deputy major to be forced out at the same time.
