Anthony Batts | |
---|---|
Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department | |
In office September 27, 2012 –July 8, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Frederick H. Bealefeld III |
Succeeded by | Kevin Davis |
Chief of the Oakland Police Department | |
In office 2009 –October 2011 | |
Preceded by | Wayne Tucker |
Succeeded by | Howard Jordan |
Chief of the Long Beach Police Department | |
In office 2002 –October 2009 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1960 (age 63–64) Washington,D.C.,U.S. |
Police career | |
Service years | Baltimore (2012–2015),Oakland (2009–2011) |
Rank | Commissioner (Baltimore) Chief of Police (Oakland) Chief of Police (Long Beach) |
Anthony W. Batts (born 1960) is an American law enforcement officer who served as the chief of three different police departments in the United States:The Long Beach,California Police Department,the Oakland,California Police Department,and the Baltimore,Maryland Police Department. [1]
Batts was born in Washington,D.C.,and lived there until he was five years old when his family relocated to San Francisco and then several years later Los Angeles. [2] He grew up in South Los Angeles . [2]
Batts has earned a Doctorate in Public Administration,a Master in Business Management,and a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement Administration. [1]
Batts was chief of police for the Californian cities of Oakland and Long Beach. He worked in the Long Beach Police Department for 27 years, [3] rising to Chief of Police in 2002. [4] Under Batts,homicides decreased 45% and overall crime decreased 13% in Long Beach. [5] The drop in violent crime rate in the city was the lowest in nearly 40 years. [6] He led the police department for seven years.
In 2006,as chief of police in Long Beach,Batts became embroiled in "lobstergate":three officers reported colleagues for fishing for lobsters while on duty. Batts allegedly called the reporting officers "malcontents" and forced them into a variety of bad assignments in retribution;Batts denied the allegations. [7] The officers sued the City of Long Beach in 2008 and were awarded $1 million each by a jury. [8] Batts left Long Beach PD shortly afterwards.
Batts has said that he was motivated to seek the Oakland Chief of Police job by the aftermath of the killing of four Oakland police officers in March 2009. [9] He was appointed Chief of Police in late 2009. In mid 2011 Batts applied to the San Jose Police Department without informing the Mayor of his intention to leave. Having lost confidence of both the Mayor and the rank-and-file officers he resigned in October 2011. [10]
After a brief period in a research post at Harvard,Batts became the police commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department on September 27,2012. [11] During his tenure in Baltimore,his team was able to implement reforms that led to dramatic reductions in all metrics used to assess police performance,including overall declines in all Part I crime numbers,excessive force objections,and citizen complaints. [12]
On December 23,2014,Batts was named in a lawsuit by a whistle blower in the Baltimore Police Department for failing to protect the officer from retaliation for reporting severe brutality. [13] The suit was settled on June 1,2016 (after Batts was fired) for $42,000. [14]
On July 8,2015,Batts was fired from the Baltimore Police Department in the aftermath of a spike in homicide rates weeks after the 2015 Baltimore riots. [15] Reports also cited the controversial handling of Freddie Gray's arrest as the cause of Batt's removal. [16] Gray died in police custody. [17]
Batts has received various awards and commendations for heroism,crime reduction,community activism,and innovative programs,including California State University Long Beach Alumni of the Year,Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award in the cities of Long Beach and Oakland,and Leadership Long Beach Alumnus of the Year. Batts was also honored by the Anti-Defamation League for community outreach efforts to erase antisemitism,bigotry,and other such intolerances. He has served on the following boards:Long Beach Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees;Board of Governors for Long Beach City College;Board of Directors for the Boy Scouts of America;and the Long Beach Children's Clinic. [1]
Batts currently[ as of? ] serves as an instructor at the FBI-Law Enforcement Executive Development Association.
Batts's former wife is Laura Richardson,a Californian Democrat and former member of the United States House of Representatives. [18]
The New York City Police Department (NYPD),officially the City of New York Police Department,is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23,1845,the NYPD is the largest,and one of the oldest,municipal police departments in the United States.
The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore,Maryland. Dating back to 1784,the BPD,consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020,is organized into nine districts covering 80.9 square miles (210 km2) of land and 11.1 square miles (29 km2) of waterways. The department is sometimes referred to as the Baltimore City Police Department to distinguish it from the Baltimore County Police Department.
The 2007 Baltimore mayoral election was held on November 6,2007. Because Baltimore's electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic,Sheila Dixon's victory in the Democratic primary on September 11 all but assured her of victory in the general election;she defeated Republican candidate Elbert Henderson in the general election by an overwhelming majority. Dixon,who as president of the Baltimore City Council became mayor in January 2007 when Martin O'Malley resigned to become Governor of Maryland,was the first woman to be elected to the office.
The Long Beach Police Department provides law enforcement for the city of Long Beach,California.
Frederick H. Bealefeld III is an American former police officer who served as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department from 2007 to 2012. He also served as deputy commissioner of operations for the department from January to July 2007. Born to a family of police officers,Bealefeld graduated from Chesapeake High School in Anne Arundel County,and attended Anne Arundel Community College,dropping out due to an injury preventing him from obtaining a lacrosse scholarship.
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is a law enforcement agency responsible for policing the city of Oakland,California,United States. As of May 2021,the department employed 709 sworn officers and 371 civilian employees. The department is divided into 5 geographical divisions policing Oakland's 78 square miles and population of 420,000. The OPD receives 550,000 annual calls for service,and responds to over 250,000 law enforcement incidents.
The United States police-rank model is generally quasi-military in structure. A uniform system of insignia based on that of the US Army and Marine Corps is used to help identify an officer's seniority.
Lai Jean Quan is an American politician who was the 49th mayor of Oakland,California from 2011 to 2015. She previously served as City Council member for Oakland's 4th District. Upon inauguration on January 3,2011,she became Oakland's first female mayor. Quan ran an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in 2014,losing the mayoral race to Libby Schaaf,a member of the Oakland City Council.
Delphine Allen et al. v. City of Oakland was a civil rights lawsuit in Federal District Court regarding police misconduct in Oakland,California which has resulted in ongoing Federal oversight. Plaintiffs alleged mistreatment at the hands of four veteran officers,known as the "Riders",who were alleged to have kidnapped,planted evidence,and beaten citizens. Plaintiffs also alleged that the Oakland Police Department (OPD) turned a blind eye to police misconduct.
The American city of Baltimore,Maryland,is notorious for its crime rate,which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19,2015,which touched off riots and an increase in murders. The city recorded 348 homicides in 2019,a number second only to the number recorded in 1993 when the population was nearly 125,000 higher.
The Chief of the Oakland Police Department is an office held by the executive head and highest-ranking officer of the Oakland Police Department. The chief was first established in 1853. The chief manages and oversees the planning,development and implementation of all law enforcement and crime prevention programs for the City. They provide leadership,vision and direction to the Department and its command staff and promotes collaboration,communication and coordination with other city agencies and community organizations.
In 2010,due to escalating gang activity and high crime rates in Oakland,California,the Oakland city attorney's office under John Russo sought gang injunctions in Oakland against multiple gangs,with the first coming into effect in May of that year. A second injunction was sought from 2010 to 2012,with a preliminary injunction approved in June 2011 and the full injunction approved in February 2012. A gang injunction is a court-issued restraining order that prohibits named gang members from participating in a variety of specified activities. The injunctions were controversial,with opponents citing concerns about their high costs and the possibility of civil rights violations,while proponents felt that the city had not adequately supported the injunctions. In 2015,city attorney Barbara Parker dismissed both injunctions.
James McDonnell is the former sheriff of Los Angeles County. McDonnell was elected as L.A. County's 32nd sheriff on November 4,2014,defeating former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka. He replaced interim sheriff John Scott on December 1,2014. Scott replaced former sheriff Lee Baca. Previously,McDonnell served as the Chief of Police in Long Beach,California and before that in the Los Angeles Police Department. McDonnell was defeated in 2018 by Alex Villanueva.
On April 12,2015,Freddie Carlos Gray Jr.,a 25-year-old African American,was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possession of a knife. While in police custody,Gray sustained fatal injuries and was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Gray died on April 19,2015;his death was ascribed to injuries to his cervical spinal cord.
On April 12,2015,Baltimore Police Department officers arrested Freddie Gray,a 25-year-old African American resident of Baltimore,Maryland. Gray's neck and spine were injured while he was in a police vehicle and he went into a coma. On April 18,there were protests in front of the Western district police station. Gray died on April 19.
Danielle Outlaw is an American former law enforcement officer. She served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department in Philadelphia from 2020 to 2023,chief of police of the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon from 2017 to 2019,and deputy chief of the Oakland Police Department in California form 2013 to 2017.
Rex Richardson is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Long Beach,California since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,Richardson previously served as a member of the Long Beach City Council,representing the 9th District from 2014 until 2022.
Kevin Davis is an American police officer. After joining the Prince George's County Police Department in 1992,he served as the chief of the Prince George's County Police Department and Anne Arundel County Police Department from 2009 to 2012 and 2013 to 2014,respectively. After resigning as the chief of the Anne Arundel County Police Department,he became the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department in 2015,selected by then-Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to replace Anthony Batts. He served as the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department until his departure in January 2018 as crime rates increased. Three years later,in 2021,he was named the chief of the Fairfax County Police Department.