Will Fort Worth Police Chief Be Baltimore's Police Commissioner?

BALTIMORE, MD — Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald will be Baltimore's next police commissioner, according to the NBC affiliate out of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The station reported Friday morning that Fitzgerald, who began his career with the Philadelphia Police Department and has been chief in the Texas agency since 2015, was leaving to take the position in Baltimore.

Fitzgerald has his Ph.D. in business administration from Eastern University in Pennsylvania and has been a police officer since 1992, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.

If he is the next police commissioner in Baltimore, it would be the fourth city where he has led a police department. Here is a history of where he has been chief, which is three cities in nine years:

• 2009 in Missouri City, Texas
• 2013 in Allentown, Pennsylvania
• 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh did not confirm the information provided by Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, who has since said she has not received a letter of resignation from Fitzgerald.

Pugh told reporters Friday that she is not discussing who the finalists are for the commissioner position in Baltimore, citing the process, which involves talking with the candidates and the city council.

Mayor Pugh talks about selecting a new police commissioner but does not mention Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald. #Baltimore pic.twitter.com/B1HCGYgR3n
— John Rydell (@JohnRydell1) October 19, 2018

Since January, there have been three people heading up the Baltimore Police Department.

Interim Commissioner Garry Tuggle has led the Baltimore Police Department since May.

He was appointed to the post after former Commissioner Darryl De Sousa resigned following charges that he failed to pay taxes.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis was fired in January after Pugh said the city was "not achieving the pace of progress that our residents have every right to expect in the weeks since we ended what was nearly a record year for homicides in the city of Baltimore."

There were 343 homicides in Baltimore in 2017. The city achieved the infamous designation as "Most Dangerous City in America" by USA Today, based on the homicide rate per capita; Charm City led the nation in that category last year.

This week, Interim Commissioner Tuggle announced 230 more officers were being put on the streets after a spike in violence.

There have been 245 homicides so far this year in Baltimore as of Tuesday, Oct. 17 , according to data from the Baltimore Police Department.

There has been no official statement from Baltimore's mayor on the commissioner position Friday. News of Fitzgerald taking the job in Baltimore came from the Fort Worth mayor, the NBC Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate reported.

• Baltimore Most Dangerous City In Nation: USA Today
• 230 More Police Officers Added To Baltimore Streets
• Baltimore Police Commissioner Resigns
• Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Davis
• Murder Capitals Of America: Baltimore On The List

This is breaking news and will be updated.

Photo of Dr. Joel Fitzgerald courtesy of Fort Worth Police Department.

#BREAKING: Fort Worth police Chief Joel Fitzgerald leaving the department for a new job in Baltimore. More: https://t.co/gqVzl5v5pd pic.twitter.com/AmwDaXqzIA
— Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) October 19, 2018