Stephen Janis and Luke Broadwater, The Examiner
2007-07-18 23:37:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Facing a soaring murder rate, embattled Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm resigned Wednesday at the request of the mayor, according to high-ranking law enforcement sources.

Mayor Sheila Dixon has called a news conference about Hamm’s resignation at 9 a.m. Thursday at City Hall.

Hamm’s second in command, Deputy Commissioner Col. Frederick Bealefeld, is expected to take over as acting commissioner, sources said.
Through a spokesman, Hamm declined comment.

Baltimore police union president Paul Blair said he believed Hamm, commissioner since 2004, was hampered while in office by mayors who tried to micro-manage the department.

“Hamm’s been saddled with [Gov. Martin] O’Malley’s arrest policy and he had to live with Mayor Dixon’s so-called crime plan,” Blair said. “With the other candidates running against her making a big deal about Hamm being fired, I guess he just said, ‘I don’t need this.’”

Blair also noted the high turnover rate for the city’s top cop.

“We set a record eight police commissioners in eight years,” he said.

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, Baltimore NAACP president, also suggested Hamm was not given enough authority.

“Given that that I know Hamm personally, I am saddened he had to step down,” he said. “I'm not sure he was given the reins to run the department, particularly because O’Malley ran the police department. He was between a rock and a hard place. But he was not able to deliver what they needed. Killings are going up, they aren’t going down.”

With 176 homicides through Wednesday, Baltimore, one of America’s most violent cities, is on pace to break 300 slayings for the first time since 1999. Shootings are also up about 35 percent.

O’Malley declined comment.

Hamm was recently embroiled in a scandal over the award of a $55,529 pension to Marcus Brown, former deputy police commissioner, when critics said he hadn’t earned the retirement package.

Stephan Fugate, chairman of the Fire and Police Employees’ Retirement System Board of Trustees, alleged Hamm deceived the board into awarding Brown’s pension.

“I certainly hope it was over the pension, because I believe what Hamm committed was pension fraud,” Fugate said.

City Councilman Ken Harris also cited the Brown deal as a major problem.

“I think there were judgment errors made by Hamm in terms of Marcus Brown’s pension, as well as deployment,” Harris said. “We’re at a point where we're we need fresh perspectives and new leadership."

Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for Baltimore City state’s attorney Patricia Jessamy, said the city’s top prosecutor planned to speak with Dixon about the resignation late Wednesday evening.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com