{{Short description|American police chief}} {{for|the Canadian boxer|Frank Battaglia (boxer)}} {{Infobox police officer |name = Frank Battaglia |image = |caption = |birth_date = |badge_number = |birth_place = |nickname = |department = [[Baltimore Police Department]] |service = United States |service_years = |rank = [[List of Commissioners of the Baltimore Police Department|Commissioner]] |awards = |relatives = |other_work = }}
'''Frank Battaglia''' is a former [[Baltimore Police Department]] officer who was [[List of Commissioners of the Baltimore Police Department|commissioner]] of the department between 1981 and 1984.<ref>Baltimore Sun {{cite web| title=Bealefeld urges more effort to fight violent crime| url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-md.ci.bealefeld19nov19,0,6027326.story}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Biography== Battaglia was the only [[Italian-American]] police commissioner of Baltimore, controlling a police department previously dominated by [[Irish-American]] police officers during a time period nicknamed the "Holy Roman Empire."<ref>{{cite book |last=Simon |first=David |title=Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets |orig-date=1991 |edition=4th |year=2006 |publisher=Owl Books |isbn=978-0-8050-8075-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/homicideyearonki00simo_1/page/39 39] |chapter=One |quote=D'Addario is one of the last survivors of the Italian caliphate that briefly ruled the department after a long Irish dynasty.....But the Holy Roman Empire lasted less than four years. |title-link=Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets }}</ref> Battaglia would lose the post for a consultant position in 1984 to [[Bishop L. Robinson]] as Mayor [[Donald Schaefer]] shifted control of the department to the city's majority [[African American]] community.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simon |first=David |title=Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets |orig-date=1991 |edition=4th |year=2006 |publisher=Owl Books |isbn=978-0-8050-8075-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/homicideyearonki00simo_1/page/29 29–30] |chapter=One |quote=the mayor acknowledged the city's changing demographics by dragging Battaglia into a well paid consultant position and giving the black community a firm lock on the upper tiers of the police department. |title-link=Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets }}</ref> It was under Battaglia that former BPD officer [[Gary D'Addario]] was elevated to the rank of lieutenant. D'Addario is best known as the shift commander featured in [[David Simon]]'s [[Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets]] book and was the inspiration for the character of [[Al Giardello]] seen on [[NBC]]'s [[HLOTS|Homicide: Life on the Street]]. During the [[Baltimore riot of 1968]], Battaglia was ranked as a Lieutenant Colonel and was the Department's official Field Force Commander.<ref>"EVER ON THE WATCH" THE HISTORY OF THE BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT by W.M.Hackley {{cite web| title=The Baltimore Riot of 1968| url=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/baltimorepolicehistorybywmhackley2/id76.html| access-date=2008-07-09| archive-date=2008-09-05| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905015023/http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/baltimorepolicehistorybywmhackley2/id76.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-civ|pol}} {{succession box|before=[[Donald Pomerleau]]|title=[[Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department]]|years=1981-1984 |after=[[Bishop L. Robinson|Bishop Robinson]]}} {{s-end}} {{Baltimore Police Department}} {{Commissioners of the Baltimore Police Department|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battaglia, Frank}} [[Category:American people of Italian descent]] [[Category:Commissioners of the Baltimore Police Department]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]