# Frank Battaglia

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American police chief

For the Canadian boxer, see [Frank Battaglia (boxer)](/source/Frank_Battaglia_(boxer)).

Frank Battaglia Police career Country United States Department Baltimore Police Department Rank Commissioner

**Frank Battaglia** is a former [Baltimore Police Department](/source/Baltimore_Police_Department) officer who was [commissioner](/source/List_of_Commissioners_of_the_Baltimore_Police_Department) of the department between 1981 and 1984.[1]

## Biography

Battaglia was the only [Italian-American](/source/Italian-American) police commissioner of Baltimore, controlling a police department previously dominated by [Irish-American](/source/Irish-American) police officers during a time period nicknamed the "Holy Roman Empire."[2] Battaglia would lose the post for a consultant position in 1984 to [Bishop L. Robinson](/source/Bishop_L._Robinson) as Mayor [Donald Schaefer](/source/Donald_Schaefer) shifted control of the department to the city's majority [African American](/source/African_American) community.[3] It was under Battaglia that former BPD officer [Gary D'Addario](/source/Gary_D'Addario) was elevated to the rank of lieutenant. D'Addario is best known as the shift commander featured in [David Simon](/source/David_Simon)'s [Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets](/source/Homicide%3A_A_Year_on_the_Killing_Streets) book and was the inspiration for the character of [Al Giardello](/source/Al_Giardello) seen on [NBC](/source/NBC)'s [Homicide: Life on the Street](/source/HLOTS). During the [Baltimore riot of 1968](/source/Baltimore_riot_of_1968), Battaglia was ranked as a Lieutenant Colonel and was the Department's official Field Force Commander.[4]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Baltimore Sun ["Bealefeld urges more effort to fight violent crime"](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-md.ci.bealefeld19nov19,0,6027326.story).[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Simon, David (2006) [1991]. "One". [*Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets*](/source/Homicide%3A_A_Year_on_the_Killing_Streets) (4th ed.). Owl Books. p. [39](https://archive.org/details/homicideyearonki00simo_1/page/39). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8050-8075-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8050-8075-9). 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Simon, David (2006) [1991]. "One". [*Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets*](/source/Homicide%3A_A_Year_on_the_Killing_Streets) (4th ed.). Owl Books. pp. [29–30](https://archive.org/details/homicideyearonki00simo_1/page/29). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8050-8075-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8050-8075-9). 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "EVER ON THE WATCH" THE HISTORY OF THE BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT by W.M.Hackley ["The Baltimore Riot of 1968"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080905015023/http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/baltimorepolicehistorybywmhackley2/id76.html). Archived from [the original](http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/baltimorepolicehistorybywmhackley2/id76.html) on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-07-09.

Police appointments Preceded by Donald Pomerleau Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department 1981-1984 Succeeded by Bishop Robinson

v t e Baltimore Police Department Commissioners Board of Commissioners Gaither Lawson Nelson (acting) Stanton Atkinson Ober Ford (acting) Hepbron Schmidt Pomerleau Battaglia Robinson Tilghman Woods Frazier Rotation (acting) Daniel Norris Clark Hamm Bealefeld Batts Davis De Sousa Tuggle (acting) Harrison Worley Events 2015 Baltimore protests Baltimore police strike Killing of Freddie Gray Gun Trace Task Force Death of Sean Suiter Wayne Jenkins William King and Antonio Murray Harlem Park Three Murders of Keona Holley and Justin Johnson Media Charm City Cop in the Hood Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Homicide: Life on the Street Serial, Season 1 The Wire We Own This City Related Espantoon Rough ride

v t e Commissioners of the Baltimore Police Department Police Commissioners (1920–present) Charles D. Gaither (1920–37) William P. Lawson (1937–38) Stephen G. Nelson (interim 1938) Robert F. Stanton (1938–43) Hamilton R. Atkinson (1943–49) Beverly Ober (1949–55) Fred L. Ford (interim 1955) James M. Hepbron (1955–61) Bernard Schmidt (1961–66) Donald Pomerleau (1966–81) Frank Battaglia (1981–84) Bishop Robinson (1984–87) Edward J. Tilghman (1987–89) Edward V. Woods (1989–93) Thomas C. Frazier (1994–99) John E. Gavrilis, Elbert Shirley & Robert Smith (interim rotation 1999–2000) Ronald L. Daniel (2000) Edward T. Norris (2000–02) Kevin P. Clark (2002–04) Leonard Hamm (2004–07) Frederick H. Bealefeld III (2007–12) Anthony Batts (2012–15) Kevin Davis (2015–18) Darryl De Sousa (2018) Gary Tuggle (interim 2018–19) Michael S. Harrison (2019–23) Richard Worley (2023–present) Presidents of the Board of Police Commissioners (1850–1920) Charles Howard (1850–61) Nicholas L. Wood (1862–64) Samuel Hindes (1864–66) James Young (1866–67) LeFevre Jarrett (1867–70) John W. Davis (1870–71) William H. B. Fusselbaugh(1871–81) George Colton (1881–87) Edson M. Schryver (1888–97) Daniel C. Heddinger (1897–1900) George M. Upshur (1900–1904) George R. Willis (1904–08) Sherlock Swann (1908–10) John B. A. Wheltle (1910–12) Morris Ames Soper (1912–13) James McEvoy (1913–14) Daniel C. Ammidon (1914–16) Lawrason Riggs (1916–20) Other members of the Board of Police Commissioners (1850–1920) select list Thomas Kelso

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frank Battaglia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Battaglia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Battaglia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.