Police: Complaints Against Top Pick For BPD Deputy Commissioner 'Incorrect'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City Police say leaked documents with complaints against the acting commissioner's pick for deputy commissioner were "incorrect" and no such claims regarding discrimination exist.
Police spokesperson T.J. Smith released the following statement from Baltimore Police Commissioner-Designate Darryl De Sousa Saturday night.
The information contained in the personnel memo leaked to the news media last week in reference to Thomas Casella was incorrect. There are no sustained complaints against him involving race, religion, sex, or any other type of discrimination. What occurred to him was completely unfortunate and unfair. We are investigating how incorrect information was provided to me and how that information was publicly disseminated.
Smith said during a press conference Friday morning the leak of documents reported on by some local outlets was "illegal."
Following the leak, it was announced Cassella wouldn't currently be appointed as deputy commissioner.
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"He has a very unique skill set that I thought would be beneficial to the police department," De Sousa said of Cassella on Friday. "I did a subsequent background check and it was at that point... that I discovered something that made me slow down that process and reconsider."
It is not yet clear how this will affect Cassella's appointment.
The department did not reveal the origins of the documents or how they were leaked.
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