RadioOnFire.com - Several days after he was placed on paid suspension, Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa resigned Tuesday, Mayor Catherine Pugh's office announced Tursday
The mayor suspended De Sousa on Friday, less than 24 hours after he was charged in federal court with willfully failing to file his federal tax returns for three separate years. On Tuesday, she announced her intent to undertake a national search. Deputy Commissioner Gary Tuggle, who has been serving as acting commissioner since Friday, will serve as interim commissioner.
"I want to reassure all Baltimoreans that this development in no way alters our strategic efforts to reduce crime by addressing its root causes in our most neglected neighborhoods," Pugh said in a statement. "This broad-based, grassroots approach - underpinned by the utilization of new crime-fighting technology - is working and will continue to be effective as indicated by the downward trend in violence. The Baltimore Police command staff is fully committed to bringing about the reforms to the practices and culture of the department that we are implementing and which are vital to ensuring the trust and confidence of all our citizens."
In an internal memo, Tuggle reassured officers and civilians in the department.
"As I mentioned just the other day, my focus is on crime, the Consent Decree, and moving this agency forward," he wrote. "The sworn and civilian staff here have done a great job and the results of your hard work continues to show as we have seen across the board reductions in violent crime. We have a long way to go, but I know you are all up for the challenge.
In the hastily-arranged Friday news conference where she announced De Sousa's suspension, she said the tax return issue never came up during the vetting process. She only found out about the tax issue when the general public did, she said.
On Thursday, the U.S. attorney's office filed three federal charges alleging that De Sousa willfully failed to file tax returns in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In a statement, he admitted he didn't file his personal federal or state taxes for those years, did file his 2016 return and received an extension for his 2017 tax return. He maintained he has paid his federal, state and local taxes "regularly" via withholding.
De Sousa's attorney later said his client didn't know there was a federal investigation underway, and said De Sousa wasn't given the chance to explain or submit the missed filings.
Source WBAL
No comments:
Post a Comment