By Sean Yoes, Baltimore AFRO Editor, syoes@afro.com
Interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle is not interested in removing the “interim” from his job title.
According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Solicitor Andre Davis told U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar this morning Tuggle voluntarily withdrew his name from consideration for the permanent job. The revelation happened during a quarterly meeting in U.S. District Court for the Department of Justice consent decree with Baltimore. Davis allegedly assured Bredar the commissioner’s position would be filled by the end of October.
Interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle (Courtesy Photo)
According to Davis, the city has received more than 50 applications seeking the commissioner’s job. A panel of three law enforcement experts from around the nation will be assisting in the search for the city’s next top cop.
Tuggle, a Baltimore native and former Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officer, joined the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1992. He has held leadership positions in law enforcement in Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Tuggle’s decision not to seek the permanent job as BPD commissioner comes in the wake of the city’s deadliest month of 2018; 37 people were killed in September.
Tuggle is the third BPD commissioner to serve in 2018. In January, Kevin Davis was fired after serving as commissioner since 2015, the year Freddie Gray was killed and the subsequent uprising in April 2015. He was replaced by Darryl De Sousa, a 30-year veteran of the Department in February, only for De Sousa to step down a couple of months later after being charged with federal income tax crimes.