Ed Norris

In Baltimore, even the felons have crime plans. And if the felon also happens to be the only guy in memory to knock down the city's horrific homicide numbers, Baltimore apparently is willing to listen. Ex-commish/ex-con Ed Norris unfurled his prescription for a safer city on his radio show yesterday, and no fewer than seven reporters and four TV camera guys flocked to the WHFS studios for the occasion, The Sun's Julie Bykowicz reports. It's a seven-point plan, and personally, my favorite is No.

Derrick Mason made his regular appearance on “The Norris & Davis Show” on 105.7 The Fan on Monday morning, and since NFL Network will release on Sunday the top 10 players of 2011 according to a poll of players, Mason was asked by hosts Ed Norris and Steve Davis to name his pick for the best player in the NFL. “Hands down, it’s Peyton Manning,” Mason said, giving an answer many Ravens fans probably didn’t want to hear . “You take...

Way back when Ed Norris was headed for the slammer, political prognosticators peered into their crystal balls to see how the fallen police chief would affect the coming governor's race. Any taint on Mayor Martin O'Malley and Gov. Robert Ehrlich would cancel each other out, soothsayers figured, because they'd both hired the guy as their top cop. The only unknown was whether Doug Duncan would make some hay. What a difference a couple years, a completed prison stint and a hit radio show make.

The latest FBI crime statistics reports are out, and Baltimore, despite its lowest homicide rate since the 1980s, is still the fifth-deadliest city in the nation and the seventh most dangerous in terms of overall violent crime. It's hard to know what to make of this. Thanks in part to the statistics-driven policing strategies we imported from New York, and in part to a morbid municipal fascination with the daily body count, Baltimore tends to closely monitor the ups and downs of crime and to link the trend to the effectiveness of the police chief or mayor.

Ed Norris, unplugged, sits in a Timonium diner eating a cheeseburger and drinking coffee. He seems talked out, and it's only Monday. Norris looks like a middle-aged cop (with a really nice watch) who just wants to get home to Florida for the weekend to see his wife, watch their 6-year-old son play baseball ("Keep your glove up, Jack"), and maybe have a bourbon and play golf - but not at the same time. Live his life, in other words. Friday is his getaway day. Norris goes home to Tampa, where his family lives while he works weekdays at his Baltimore radio job, The Ed Norris Show on WHFS-FM.

The rehabilitation of former Baltimore top cop Edward T. Norris - or of his public image, anyway - continues. Norris, who served seven months in federal prison on corruption charges, made the first of his regular appearances as a commentator yesterday on Baltimore's Fox television affiliate. Norris, who retains his daily, four-hour radio program on WHFS-FM, The Ed Norris Show, Locked and Loaded, was booked by WBFF, Channel 45, to address crime and law enforcement issues on Thursdays between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. in an interview segment titled Fox Undercover with Ed Norris.

Storming away from the body of a young man who had been tortured to death, a Baltimore homicide detective vents about a diversion of scarce police resources for a political hack's petty personal matter. "Show me the son of a bitch who can fix this department," he barks, "I'll give back half my overtime [pay]." Those lines were spoken during Sunday night's installment of HBO's The Wire, by an actor named Ed Norris, playing a character named Norris, who just happens, during his day job, to be Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris.

A familiar voice was heard on WJZ-FM 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning when longtime sports anchor Steve Davis joined Ed Norris for the inaugural "Norris and Davis Show," which can be heard weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. Davis, the former sports anchor for Channel 45/WBFF and WBAL radio, provides a knowledgeable sports voice in teaming with Norris, a former Baltimore City police officer who talks politics and all things Baltimore. "I think what people will be able to expect are the things that I've done for 16 years being in Baltimore -- talking sports," Davis said.

Restaurateur Cindy Wolf is an expert at keeping a souffle from collapsing, but not a lighter-than-air comedy routine. And Marin Alsop definitely does not encourage improvisation when she is conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. They are just two of the half-dozen local celebrities who will gamely (and, perhaps, foolishly) join members of the nation's most famous comedy troupe on stage in the Head Theater during select performances of " Second City Does Baltimore. " This is the Chicago-based troupe that has launched the careers of such famous funny men and women as Steve Carell, Tina Fey, John Belushi and Stephen Colbert.

Former Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris - addressing everything from terrorists to doing time to Jessica Simpson's rear end - made his debut as a radio talk show host yesterday, receiving a warm welcome from callers who, like him, seem to consider any crimes he committed to be in the past. "Enough's enough," Norris said of his guilty plea to federal public corruption and tax charges stemming from his reign as Baltimore's police chief, the six months he spent in prison and the six more he spent on home detention.

Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason likes to voice his opinions, which often show up on websites such as Pro Football Talk. Like when he called Roger Goodell “ a joke .” And when he said the Ravens looked like “ the Bad News Bears .” And when he talked about Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder peeing himself . But when the hosts of “The Norris & Davis Show” on 105.7 The Fan asked Mason on Monday to call Steelers running...

Browns cornerback Eric Wright, who was torched by Anquan Boldin for three touchdowns in Week 3, recently told The Cleveland Plain Dealer that Browns fans threatened his life last season . Appearing on "The Norris & Davis Show" on 105.7 The Fan this morning, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason was asked if he had ever received a death threat . He said no, adding that if you're going to threaten someone, you better do it to his...

Ravens center Matt Birk appeared on "The Norris & Davis Show" on 105.7 The Fan this morning to discuss the NFL labor negotiations, which will last another week after the league and the players' union agreed this afternoon on a seven-day extension of the collective bargaining agreement . "I think as the [original Thursday] deadline got close, the owners realized you can’t just lock the players out, that there’s some legal actions and ramifications to that so I think that the extension was more of a chance [for them to]

Restaurateur Cindy Wolf is an expert at keeping a souffle from collapsing, but not a lighter-than-air comedy routine. And Marin Alsop definitely does not encourage improvisation when she is conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. They are just two of the half-dozen local celebrities who will gamely (and, perhaps, foolishly) join members of the nation's most famous comedy troupe on stage in the Head Theater during select performances of " Second City Does Baltimore. " This is the Chicago-based troupe that has launched the careers of such famous funny men and women as Steve Carell, Tina Fey, John Belushi and Stephen Colbert.

A familiar voice was heard on WJZ-FM 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning when longtime sports anchor Steve Davis joined Ed Norris for the inaugural "Norris and Davis Show," which can be heard weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. Davis, the former sports anchor for Channel 45/WBFF and WBAL radio, provides a knowledgeable sports voice in teaming with Norris, a former Baltimore City police officer who talks politics and all things Baltimore. "I think what people will be able to expect are the things that I've done for 16 years being in Baltimore -- talking sports," Davis said.

Three weeks after resigning as mayor in a cloud of scandal, Sheila Dixon was back in the spotlight Wednesday night. Speaking at a panel discussion sponsored by the Investigative Voice web site, Dixon touted some of her pet causes-- gun control, the environment, prenatal care-- and the accomplishments of her regime. "Part of what i was attempting to do was to focus on those systemic issues," said Dixon. "So when we talk about cleaner greener healthier safer cities, it wasn't just buzz words."

The latest FBI crime statistics reports are out, and Baltimore, despite its lowest homicide rate since the 1980s, is still the fifth-deadliest city in the nation and the seventh most dangerous in terms of overall violent crime. It's hard to know what to make of this. Thanks in part to the statistics-driven policing strategies we imported from New York, and in part to a morbid municipal fascination with the daily body count, Baltimore tends to closely monitor the ups and downs of crime and to link the trend to the effectiveness of the police chief or mayor.

FORMER BALTIMORE police Commissioner Ed Norris, who pleaded guilty to misuse of funds and tax irregularities, began his six-month prison term Thursday, the same week two Justice Department assistant attorneys made a motion that would prevent the defense from questioning the motives of U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio in prosecuting investment banker Nathan Chapman. It was DiBiagio's office that prosecuted Norris, and the question everyone should be asking - but that no one has - is, given DiBiagio's e-mails suggesting that he was pushing for "front-page" indictments of public officials, whether we should cast a skeptical eye on the case of the departed commish.

I am writing in response to Ed Norris' recent comments on the priority list that mayor-in-waiting Stephanie Rawlings-Blake should commit to (Jan. 10). I was appalled to see that of all of the criminal justice issues that plague this city, he chose to point a finger and suggest additional prosecution of some of the poorest and most disenfranchised people -- the homeless and sex workers. The fact that he had the nerve to label panhandling and prostitution as "quality of life" crimes demonstrates just how out of touch many people continue to be. Those who would stand out on Light Street or MLK on a frigid January day do not do so to drive people away.

Radio host Ed Norris, a former Baltimore police commissioner and superintendent of the Maryland State Police, knows what it's like to be on a force amid political change. "There's always turmoil, and it trickles down to the streets," Norris said. He said that he believes a Rawlings-Blake mayoral administration might be wise to conduct an audit of the Police Department's crime statistics to see whether the numbers are giving commanders an accurate look at crime in Baltimore.