Source: New Orleans Police Department / New Orleans Police Department
That was fast!
Mayor Catherine Pugh decided to side with the initial recommendation of the Baltimore Police Commissioner Search Panel and has announced New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison as her new pick for the job.
Pugh created the search panel, but Harrison never applied for the job, saying he didn’t want to leave New Orleans, Louisiana, due to his commitment to the city.
Fort Worth, Texas, Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald withdrew his name for consideration for Baltimore police commissioner Monday.
Harrison is a life-long cop who rose through the ranks in the New Orleans Police Department. He was appointed superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department in August 2014 and reappointed in May 2018. He joined the New Orleans Police Department in 1991 and quickly advanced though the ranks. He served as a sergeant in the Major Case Narcotics Section in 1995.
In January, 2011, Harrison was appointed to the position of commander of the Special Investigations Division, managing the narcotics, vice, criminal intelligence and gang enforcement units of NOPD.
The city of New Orleans has seen reform for its police department through a consent decree with the Justice Department. Baltimore City is currently under its own federal consent decree.
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