The Baltimore Police Department announced yesterday the first wide-ranging shake-up of its top command ranks in more than two years, coming just days after the departure of Leonard D. Hamm as commissioner. The changes announced by acting Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III include a new deputy commissioner of operations and the retirement of a 31-year veteran from the top administrative post. The city is in the midst of a surge in homicides and shootings this year, with 178 homicides through yesterday, compared with 151 slayings for the same period last year.
"The key here is building a strong leadership team," Bealefeld said at a news conference. "We have a job to do, and there is a high degree of urgency. I've had to make some changes to make sure we get the right team in place to get in the direction I think we should go. We have to make some inroads in the violence in this city."
Bealefeld said he consulted Mayor Sheila Dixon on the changes but that the final decision was his.
"These are my picks ... and ultimately the mayor holds me responsible for their conduct," he said.
The promotions announced yesterday are considered interim, according to Sterling Clifford, a Police Department spokesman. The changes continued a recent trend of younger commanders climbing relatively quickly through the ranks into top leadership posts.
Col. Anthony Barksdale, a 13-year department member, was promoted to the No. 2 position of deputy commissioner of operations. Barksdale previously headed the department's organized crime division, which focused on drug trafficking and violent crimes. "Barksdale is an operation-oriented, street-oriented cop," Bealefeld said.
Deputy Commissioner Errol L. Dutton, who joined the department in December 1975, retired from his position in charge of the department's administrative bureau. Bealefeld promoted Col. Deborah A. Owens, a 17-year veteran, to take over as acting deputy commissioner in Dutton's place.
Owens said that that she's looking forward to her new position. "I will miss the operations side, but I think this is a great opportunity for me," she said. Owens will oversee the department's troubled evidence control unit. The department has lost key evidence in two recent rape cases in which city police officers are defendants.
Owens was not popular with many of the rank and file. At a closed-door meeting last month with roughly 500 officers, Dixon heard some complain about Owens' leadership style in her day-to-day management of the department's patrol division, according to officers who attended.
Lt. Col. John P. Skinner, who served under Owens and was responsible for overseeing enforcement on the city's east side, was promoted to chief of patrol. Skinner, a 14-year veteran, takes over the high-profile position during a period when the city's police union is complaining about low morale, understaffing and poor working conditions.
Clifford said that Bealefeld, as acting police commissioner, "felt it was important to move people into positions where they could have an immediate impact."gus.sentementes@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Annie Linskey contributed to this article.