THOSE WHO THINK departing Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris' move to be the top state cop means the city has heard the last from him had better think again.
There's good news for Norris' supporters, bad news for his critics: He ain't done with Baltimore yet.
Norris was sitting next to Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Friday afternoon in a conference room of the Maryland Troopers Association in Pikesville. Ehrlich was giving a news conference to announce that Norris would become superintendent of state police, that Fraternal Order of Police President Gary McIlhinney would take over the helm of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and that Col. Douglas DeLeaver would move from commanding the MTA police to running the Department of Natural Resources Police.
"My problem with the press is with the interpretation of the news as opposed to reporting the news," Ehrlich told the print and broadcast media representatives gathered for the announcements. "I want to help the city, not hurt it. I want to help [Mayor] Martin [O'Malley], not hurt him."
Ehrlich was referring to all the speculation, the naysaying, the criticism surrounding his selection of Norris. Some say he's raiding Baltimore to get a darned fine cop who turned the city Police Department around and reduced crime by nearly 30 percent. Others are accusing Norris of leaving "before he gets the job done."
Use that criterion and Norris would have to stay commissioner for the rest of his natural life. When, exactly, is this job - getting Baltimore's assorted hood rats, stick-up boys, murderers, muggers, rapists, burglars and drug slingers to stop killing each other (and us) and making life miserable for those of us who still have the gumption to call ourselves Baltimoreans - ever "done"? Are these guys just supposed to have an epiphany one day and stop doing all these things?
"I find it ironic," Norris said of the "He's leaving before getting the job done" crowd, "that the people who've been kicking me like a beach ball are the ones saying that."
Ehrlich and Norris insisted he will serve Baltimore better, as opposed to not at all, as state police chief. The two discussed Norris' possible move over lunch a while back. Both agreed that Norris would stay put if he didn't have the explicit blessing of O'Malley to take the state post. Ehrlich said he also talked to O'Malley, and stressed how Norris' move would help, not hurt, Baltimore.
On Friday, Ehrlich and Norris explained how.
Expect a lot more state troopers in Baltimore. Norris plans to use troopers from the 1,600-member state force to assist Baltimore's strapped - and no doubt exhausted and frazzled - 3,300-member force in fighting Baltimore's crime rate.
State cops will help Baltimore's finest in the apprehension of the dangerous fugitives who commit most of the crime.
It makes sense when you think about it. There's nothing to restrict Baltimore fugitives to the city. Under the Ehrlich/Norris plan, there will be nowhere in the state fugitives can feel safe from the city's jurisdiction.
State Sen.-elect Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat, was on hand for some bipartisan support. Ehrlich was seated to the left of her and Lt. Gov.-elect Michael S. Steele to her right.
"I guess folks must be wondering why I'm here," Gladden said, "seated between two Republicans, a public defender among police officers. Ed Norris has done some great things for Baltimore."
Gladden supported the Ehrlich/Norris plan for cooperation between state and Baltimore police. The scope of Baltimore's crime problem, linked mostly to drugs, requires it. Gladden pointed to the murder of 8-year-old Marciana Ringo in possible retribution for a drug debt and the firebombing of the Dawson family as reason enough for calling in state help.
"I'm tired," Ehrlich said, "as a public official of 16 years, of dealing with the repercussions of drugs. If what it takes is multijurisdictional cooperation for a safer city, I'm for it."
Norris gets the best of both worlds: he remains a police chief and gets to stay in Baltimore. His wife has grown fond of Baltimore and Maryland and doesn't want to leave.
"This allows me to stay in Baltimore," Norris said. "Tough welcome and all, I really love this place."
The "tough welcome" reference was to Baltimore's tiny but persistent "dump the white guy" crowd, who have been after Norris ever since he became commissioner. What he'll miss the least about being police commissioner, he said, is being a "lightning rod" for those types whose real target is O'Malley.
"I'm not a politician," Norris said. "I'm a cop."