page_title: Baltimore Police Department
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: Baltimore Police Department / Organization
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Memorial
context_page_description: The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The department is organized into ten districts; nine geographical and the Public Housing Section. It polices 80.9 square miles of land and 11.1 square miles of waterways. The department is sometimes referred to as the Baltimore City Police Department to distinguish it from the Baltimore County Police Department.
  In April 2017, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar approved a proposed consent decree between Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice, "mandating sweeping police reforms at a time of intense violence and deep community distrust in the city police." He denied a Department of Justice request to postpone signing the decree for 30 days in order to allow review by the Trump Administration.
  On May 10, 2018, newly appointed Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa was charged in U.S. District Court with three misdemeanor counts of failing to file federal taxes for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Mayor Catherine Pugh initially expressed support for De Sousa, but a day later she suspended him with pay pending the resolution of the charges against him. De Sousa resigned several days later.
context_section_description: The Baltimore Police Department has more than 3200 sworn and civilian personnel, including dispatchers, crime lab technicians, chaplains, and unarmed auxiliary police officers. Officers are assigned to one of nine districts in the city or a specialized unit. Officers in patrol units work 4 ten-hour shifts a week.
  
  As of 2019, the department is administered by Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. The Commissioner is head of the department. Under him are four Deputy Commissioners, heading the Operations, Public Integrity, Compliance and Administrative Bureaus. In addition, the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel generally serve as the head of a particular section or division across the entire agency (Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Neighborhood Services, etc.). The rank of Major is assigned to those who develop, implement, coordinate, and ultimately supervise the day-to-day activities of the department in notable areas of prominence (Special Operations, Homicide/Shootings, Communications, etc.), as well as to those who serve as the commanding officer of each district. In a similar fashion, apart from those serving as the Major's Executive Officer at the district level, Captains may also oversee a particular sub-division as well (Traffic, Tactical, Major Crimes). Lieutenants are tasked with being the shift commander within their respective districts. Some jobs are filled by non-sworn personnel as Directors and Coordinators; in particular, the civilian chief financial officer who oversees the Management Services Division.
caption: Bishop L. Robinson, Sr. Police Administrative Building Annex
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