Baltimore Police Commissioner Nominee Looking To 'Mend Some Of The Broken Fences'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The man nominated as Baltimore's next police commissioner held his first press conference on Monday to talk about his plans once he is confirmed as the city's top cop.
Joel Fitzgerald has not yet been confirmed. It was only about a week ago that Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announced she selected Fitzgerald out of about 50 applicants.
Fitzgerald got a chance to introduce himself to Baltimore for the first time on Monday.
He spoke a lot about a desire to create a positive relationship within the community and "mend the fences."
Fitzgerald enters into a deeply troubled department under a consent decree that has had four police commissioners in just this year.
He says he must assess the people within Baltimore PD's organization, and one of his first courses of action is getting a sense of the "intellectual capital" within the department before choosing his command staff.
Fitzgerald said he is committed to making change in Baltimore.
He will remain as Fort Worth police chief until he is confirmed by the Baltimore City Council.
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