Frank Battaglia

Frank Battaglia
Baltimore Police Department
Service branch United States
Rank Commissioner

Frank Battaglia is a former Baltimore Police Department officer who was Commissioner of the Department between 1981 and 1984.[1]

Biography

Battaglia was the only Italian-American police commissioner of Baltimore, controlling a police department previously dominated by Irish-American police officers during a time period nicknamed the "Holy Roman Empire."[2] Battaglia would lose the post for a consultant position in 1984 to Bishop L. Robinson as Mayor Donald Schaefer shifted control of the department to the city's majority African American community.[3] It was under Battaglia that former BPD officer Gary D'Addario was elevated to the rank of lieutenant. D'Addario is best known as the shift commander featured in David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets book and was the inspiration for the character of Al Giardello seen on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street. During the Baltimore riot of 1968, Battaglia was ranked as a Lieutenant Colonel and was the Department's official Field Force Commander.[4]

Preceded by
Donald Pomerleau		 Baltimore Police Department Commissioner
1981-1984		 Succeeded by
Bishop Robinson

References

  1. ^ Baltimore Sun "Bealefeld urges more effort to fight violent crime". http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-md.ci.bealefeld19nov19,0,6027326.story. 
  2. ^ Simon, David (2006) [1991]. "One". Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (4th ed.). Owl Books. p. 39. ISBN 0-8050-8075-9. "D'Addario is one of the last survivors of the Italian caliphate that briefly ruled the department after a long Irish dynasty.....But the Holy Roman Empire lasted less than four years." 
  3. ^ Simon, David (2006) [1991]. "One". Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (4th ed.). Owl Books. pp. 29–30. ISBN 0-8050-8075-9. "the mayor acknowledged the city's changing demographics by dragging Battaglia into a well paid consultant position and giving the black community a firm lock on the upper tiers of the police department." 
  4. ^ "EVER ON THE WATCH" THE HISTORY OF THE BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT by W.M.Hackley "The Baltimore Riot of 1968". http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/baltimorepolicehistorybywmhackley2/id76.html.