Anthony Batts

Anthony Batts
Police career
Current status	Former Chief, Baltimore Police Department
Department	Baltimore City Police Department Oakland Police Department Long Beach Police Department
Allegiance	State of Maryland
Country	United States of America
Years of service	Baltimore (2012-2015), Oakland (2009-2011)
Rank	Baltimore: Commissioner Oakland: Chief of Police Long Beach: Chief of Police

Anthony W. Batts is the former Police Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, the eighth largest municipal police department in the United States.

Career

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,^[1] rising to Chief of Police in 2002.^[2] Under Batts, homicides decreased 45% and overall crime decreased 13% in Long Beach.^[3]

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.^[4]

After less than one-and-a-half years^[5] To the surprise of city officials, it was revealed Batts was seeking the position of Chief in nearby San Jose, California. According to an article in a ^[6] Long Beach paper, Batts was turned down for that appointment due to a history involving domestic violence.

On October 11, 2011, after a controversial period including dealing with Federal oversight, union^[7] and political conflicts, plus mass "Occupy" demonstrations, Chief Batts announced approximately two years since his hiring date, he was resigning from the Oakland Police Department in November.

In a letter to Oakland city workers, he stated "It is with great regret that I tender this official notice of my intent to resign as chief of police for the city of Oakland."^[8] After a brief period in a research post at Harvard, Batts became the police commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department on September 27, 2012.^[9]

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.^[10]

Personal life

Batts's former wife is Laura Richardson (D-CA), a former member of the United States House of Representatives.

References

1. "LB Police Foundation plans farewell dinner for Chief Anthony Batts". Everything Long Beach. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
2. "City of Long Beach". Longbeach.gov. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
3. Archived August 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
4. "Oakland officers' killings led Batts to job". SFGate.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
5. If Anthony Bates leaves Oakland cops won't cry, SFGate.com; accessed 27 March 2016.
6. "Why San Jose Spurned Ex LB Police Chief Batts". longbeachcomber.com. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
7. Walter, Shoshana (October 1, 2011). "Those Gosh-Darn Criminals Can Go to Heck". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
8. "Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts resigns". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
9. Baltimore Sun (August 27, 2012). "Baltimore police commissioner expected to be former Oakland chief - Baltimore Sun". Baltimoresun.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
10. "Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts to be replaced". Cbsnews.com. July 8, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Q&A interview with Batts, c-span.org, March 1, 2015.