BALTIMORE _ Mayor Catherine Pugh fired Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis on Friday, citing the need to get a handle on the city's record levels of violence.
She named Deputy Commissioner Darryl D. DeSousa, the top commander in the Police Department's patrol bureau, as Davis' replacement, effective immediately, and said she would ask the City Council to make the appointment permanent.
Also on Friday morning, the department's other two deputy commissioners, Dean Palmere and Jason Johnson, had their access to police headquarters cut off, according to sources _ creating confusion as to whether other top commanders were being replaced as well.
The mayor, whose office denied additional firings, said she decided to replace Davis after 2017 ended with a historic 343 homicides.
"As I have made clear, reducing violence and restoring the confidence of our citizens in their police officers is my highest priority," Pugh said in a statement. "The fact is, we are not achieving the pace of progress that our residents have every right to expect in the weeks since we ended what was nearly a record year for homicides in the city of Baltimore."
Davis could not immediately be reached for comment.
DeSousa, at a morning news conference with Pugh, said he "has a lot of respect" for Davis and wishes him well. He also said he knows city residents are "frustrated and they want answers and they want change, and it's going to happen."
He said a new initiative, in the works for weeks, began Friday morning to send a "surplus of officers" in waves to target hot spots, major traffic corridors and "violent repeat offenders" in order to drive down violence
"I have a real strong message for the trigger-pullers, and it's we're coming after them," he said. "It's going to be at an accelerated pace."
He said the initiative is going to "last a while," but he did not provide additional details. He said he is "a chess player" who has always been focused on the operational side of policing. "I don't like to be outwitted."
Pugh said she informed Davis of her decision to fire him on Friday morning.
In a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun, Davis acknowledged widespread problems in the department, but said progress was being made and was not getting enough attention.
"The whole notion that accountability is not underway is crap," Davis said. He also said the department he has led since July 2015 has a "culture that looks at accountability as a four-letter word."
"For those eight cops to pull off what they were doing, they kept it tight," Davis said, referring to the Gun Trace Task Force officers indicted last year on federal racketeering charges. "The culture around here contributes to it, and should someone have known about it? Absolutely they should have known. This is a dysfunctional Police Department. I'm telling you as a person who has seen what a healthy organization looks like. This is not one of them. But we're making huge strides in getting there."
Davis' termination comes just days before the federal trial is set to begin for two of eight gun task force officers who haven't already pleaded guilty, and as the department continues to investigate the shooting death of Detective Sean Suiter in West Baltimore. Davis' tenure has been partially defined by those scandals _ though not as much as the violence and the city's consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, which mandates sweeping reforms.
The city entered into the deal last year, after a review by the Justice Department after the 2015 unrest found widespread discriminatory and unconstitutional policing in the department. Davis has been a champion of the process, saying reforms are deeply needed in the department.
The spike in violence that was in its early stages when Davis took the helm at the Police Department has not dropped off. The city, which had not seen more than 300 homicides since 1999, ended 2015 with 342. There were 318 in 2016, before 343 homicides, a per-capita record in the city, occurred last year.
Pugh said her decision to replace Davis was made because she is "impatient" in relation to the need to reduce homicides, but was "not done under a cloud." She said Davis "worked hard," but she wants more creativity and innovation from her police commissioner.
Pugh said she has asked DeSousa to be "creative" in reducing homicides and other crime.
"Crime is now spilling out all over the city, and we've got to focus, so I am charging this commissioner and his staff to get on top of it to reduce the numbers and to reduce them quickly," she said.
Other top commanders declined to comment. The decision appeared to come as a surprise to many in the department.
Sources within the department said confusion was rampant Friday within the department, as other commanders had their access to the building, and to their computers and cellphones, cut off as well. Those with their access revoked Friday included Palmere, who heads the criminal investigations bureau, and Johnson, who heads the strategic services bureau.
The actions were being perceived by many within the department as a signal of a larger purge of top commanders who were put in key leadership roles by Davis. However, Pugh's office denied that was the case.
Amanda Rodrigues-Smith, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said the issues with access, and cellphones being cut off, were because of a "technical issue" for which the mayor's office was trying to determine the cause.
She acknowledged such actions are generally associated with firings, but said there "hasn't been any reorganization" in the department's leadership.
"There has been no one else who has been replaced outside of Police Commissioner Davis," she said.
Davis was named interim commissioner by former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in July 2015, after she fired his predecessor, Anthony Batts, amid a surge in violence following the rioting and unrest in the city that April. The unrest erupted after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray from injuries suffered in police custody spurred widespread protests against police brutality.
The City Council confirmed Davis as the permanent commissioner in October 2015, with a five-year, $200,000 annual contract.
Under the contract, which was approved by the city's Board of Estimates, Davis is eligible to receive 75 percent of one year's salary _ or $150,000 _ if he is fired without cause.
The City Council will have to confirm DeSousa as the permanent commissioner.
DeSousa, a city resident, is a 30-year veteran of the force. He was assigned to lead the largest bureau in the department in 2017.
"Baltimore has long been my home and I've spent my career on its streets and in its neighborhoods to address problems and bring about solutions that are meaningful for the people we serve," he wrote in a statement. "I am committed to this important work more than ever and look forward to validating the trust of Mayor Pugh, my fellow officers and most importantly, the citizens of Baltimore each and every day."
