Batts

One man was killed and two were injured in a shootout that involved police in West Baltimore on Monday night, though details on what led to the shooting were still being determined Tuesday morning. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts spoke near the scene of the shooting, which happened about 10 p.m. in the 2700 block of Edmondson Avenue, a busy commercial corridor. He said police on foot patrol came upon multiple men who were inside a car firing weapons in a "particular direction" and police then opened fire on them.

An off-duty Baltimore police officer gave himself up late Tuesday after barricading himself in a home with a toddler in a six-hour standoff that began when he fatally shot a woman, authorities said. Officer James Smith, a 20-year veteran and member of the motorcycle unit, was taken into custody before 9:30 p.m. and was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday morning, among other charges, according to court records. Police had evacuated residents in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood from their homes during the incident.

An off-duty Baltimore police officer gave himself up late Tuesday after barricading himself in a home with a toddler in a six-hour standoff that began when he fatally shot a woman, authorities said. Officer James Smith, a 20-year veteran and member of the motorcycle unit, was taken into custody before 9:30 p.m. and was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday morning, among other charges, according to court records. Police had evacuated residents in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood from their homes during the incident.

The shooting of Kendra Diggs and the subsequent barricade by her alleged attacker presented a challenge Tuesday for police and emergency responders. Under the threat of further gunfire from the off-duty Baltimore police officer, officials said, they were unable to render medical aid to the dying woman. "When you have a person who is down … what we're trained on is that you don't jeopardize six or seven police officers in your emotional reaction to save that person," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in an interview Wednesday.

The Baltimore Police Department tapped one of its lawyers as the new head of internal affairs, saying Rodney Hill's experience as an officer and his recent turn as a prosecutor of police misconduct cases give him the credibility to lead a group charged with restoring public trust. Hill, 50, replaces Grayling Williams, who left in March to accept a position with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Since April 2012, Hill has been assigned to the Police Department through the city's Law Department, providing legal advice to internal investigators, prosecuting police officers at internal disciplinary hearing boards and representing the department in court.

On may 17, 2008, JASON PRIDGEN BATTS; beloved son of Johnnie and Debra Batts. On Thursday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Baltimore National Pike from 3-8 P.M. On Friday, Mr. Batts will lie in state at Celebration Church, 6401 Foreland Garth, where the family will receive friends from 10-11 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts replaced the head of the department's training academy Monday, as the agency seeks to address safety lapses and restore public confidence following the accidental shooting last week of a trainee. Batts returned former academy director Maj. Joseph Smith to the job. He replaces Maj. Eric Russell, who was suspended last week after the training accident. Police say an instructor mistakenly fired his service weapon and struck a University of Maryland police trainee in the head, critically wounding him. Smith, a 25-year veteran, had been working on an initiative to improve crime reporting.

The U.S. government should take over the Oakland Police Department — the California agency led for two years by Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts — because of a chronic failure to comply with a decade-old reform settlement, attorneys overseeing the case said in court papers. A motion, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in California, cites remarks from Batts among what it calls a "sorry trail of broken promises made to the court," and includes a transcript of a Sept.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced an across-the-board review of how city officers use weapons after the accidental shooting of a trainee during exercises last week. Speaking Tuesday at the police academy on Northern Parkway, Batts said he will review how police use guns, Tasers and other weapons in "every facet of policing this city. " "We had a major procedural breakdown in our systems, and we're working to correct those," Batts told reporters as instruction resumed at the academy after a weeklong suspension.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Friday that his officers' rushed review of speed camera tickets has produced "unacceptable" mistakes and pledged "dramatic" reform of the system, including increased staffing. "To be perfectly honest, we've made some mistakes that we shouldn't have been making in reviewing citations," Batts said in his first public comments since The Baltimore Sun found Baltimore's speed cameras have been issuing erroneous citations. "I've sat down and gone through the process, and we're making some dramatic changes.

The Baltimore Police Department tapped one of its lawyers as the new head of internal affairs, saying Rodney Hill's experience as an officer and his recent turn as a prosecutor of police misconduct cases give him the credibility to lead a group charged with restoring public trust. Hill, 50, replaces Grayling Williams, who left in March to accept a position with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Since April 2012, Hill has been assigned to the Police Department through the city's Law Department, providing legal advice to internal investigators, prosecuting police officers at internal disciplinary hearing boards and representing the department in court.

On a recent Friday night in the Baltimore Police Department's high-tech Watch Center, an urgent but vague tip came in — a murder witness was in danger. The tipster had overheard a conversation but knew only the nickname of the witness and had a hunch about the name of the street where the killing had taken place. Could police figure out the witness's identity and get to him before those who wanted to harm him? The Watch Center is a nerve center built on the ninth floor of police headquarters after the terrorist attacks of Sept.

One man was killed and two were injured in a shootout that involved police in West Baltimore on Monday night, though details on what led to the shooting were still being determined Tuesday morning. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts spoke near the scene of the shooting, which happened about 10 p.m. in the 2700 block of Edmondson Avenue, a busy commercial corridor. He said police on foot patrol came upon multiple men who were inside a car firing weapons in a "particular direction" and police then opened fire on them.

On Sunday, a Sun editorial unfairly criticized the Baltimore Police Department for losing its focus on targeting the city's most violent criminals. I can assure residents that since I was appointed commissioner some 180 days ago, the senior leadership team of the BPD has been implementing strategies to complement our already razor-sharp focus on violent crime. There's no question our strategy includes a stronger presence of police in violence-prone areas to allow people to feel safer in their neighborhoods.

Eighteen months after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake voted to approve the purchase of four new helicopters for the Police Department, her proposed budget called for grounding one of them in a cost-saving move. But within days, the administration reversed course and said Thursday it intends to keep all four choppers flying in the unit known as Foxtrot. Police likely will have to find the projected $1 million in savings elsewhere in their budget. It is unclear how the cut became part of the proposed budget, which was unveiled last week.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Thursday that he is planning to change the way police get eyewitnesses to pick out suspects, citing research that shows current techniques can lead to cases of mistaken identity. Batts said he wants officers to show witnesses one picture of a possible suspect at a time, instead of in groups. He said the change, along with a few others. could significantly improve the reliability of the identifications that police use to make their cases.

Baltimore was unable in 2012 to sustain a significant milestone — the first drop below 200 homicides in a generation — but officials see reasons to remain optimistic that declines will resume. As the Police Department's leadership changed, the city recorded 217 killings, about 10 percent more than the 197 in 2011, but still the second-lowest homicide rate since the late 1980s. Police statistics released Tuesday show that total crime and most categories of gun violence continued to decline.

The shooting of Kendra Diggs and the subsequent barricade by her alleged attacker presented a challenge Tuesday for police and emergency responders. Under the threat of further gunfire from the off-duty Baltimore police officer, officials said, they were unable to render medical aid to the dying woman. "When you have a person who is down … what we're trained on is that you don't jeopardize six or seven police officers in your emotional reaction to save that person," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in an interview Wednesday.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts is still relatively new on his job, so it's probably unfair to make too much of his unfortunate response to a question last week about the recent spate of gun violence that left nine people dead on the city's west side. "Though we're having a spike in homicides," Mr. Batts said, "our organization is working better, faster and smoother, and you can see it in the overall stats. " There was nothing factually wrong in Mr. Batts' answer; department statistics show an 8 percent drop in crimes of all types over this time last year.

The Baltimore Police Department has already gone over its overtime budget for the fiscal year, which ends in June, but Police Commissioner Anthony Batts says he will rein in the agency's spending. "We will be in budget at the end of the fiscal year. Period," Batts said during an interview at police headquarters last week.  How, exactly, remains unclear. Pressed for details this week, Batts said he has a plan but needs approval from City Hall.  The Police Department's overall operating budget this year is $410 million, and there's been a $3.4 million spillover on overtime spending.