Baltimore’s outgoing Police Commissioner Michael Harrison is no longer acting as commissioner but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his paychecks.
Records requested by The Baltimore Sun show Harrison has continued to receive his regular biweekly paycheck from the city through the month of June despite stepping back from his duties on June 8. That same day, Mayor Brandon Scott announced he had selected Deputy Commissioner Richard Worley to be Harrison’s successor as the end of Harrison’s contract approached. Officials also said Worley became acting commissioner June 8.
City payroll records, acquired via a Public Information Act request, show Harrison continued to receive biweekly paychecks totaling $11,059 each on June 9 and June 23. The checks are consistent with those Harrison received prior to the announcement on May 12 and May 26.
The paycheck dated June 23 covered the time period of June 4-17.
In response to a separate Public Information Act request, city officials said no severance or separation agreements for Harrison exist, nor do payment records indicate that Harrison has been paid any additional money.
The behind-the-scenes activity surrounding Harrison’s departure has come into the spotlight as city officials have repeatedly and routinely refused to disclose basic details. Scott’s office won’t say when Harrison’s last day will be, explain why he’s still being paid or disclose a schedule for his replacement to be confirmed by the City Council.
Just days before his departure was announced, Harrison staunchly denied during a City Council hearing he was leaving for an open police chief position in nearby Washington, D.C. He hedged, however, when council members questioned whether he would remain in his current position until the end of his contract in March 2024. The muddled answer prompted a hasty recess of the council.
Internal City Hall emails obtained by The Sun show a flurry of activity in the mayor’s office just ahead of the announcement about Harrison’s departure and Worley’s selection.
An employee of the mayor’s office sent City Administrator Faith Leach a copy of Harrison’s contract at 5:14 a.m. ET ahead of the 9 a.m. ET announcement.
At 6:37 a.m. ET Scott forwarded Leach a document sent to him directly by Worley in an April 2022 email that read “Here you go sir.” The subject of the email and the document attached were redacted under a provision of the state’s Public Information Act that protects references or copies of personnel records.
Harrison, who became Baltimore’s commissioner in 2019, likely has unused leave time that he may be using, although officials in the mayor’s office have refused to say whether that’s the case, citing restrictions about releasing personnel information. Leave balances were redacted from the payment records provided to The Sun as were tax withholdings and amounts paid for compensation time, holidays, vacations and “projects.”
Scott’s administration has also refused to say when Harrison’s final day with the city will be, citing personnel confidentiality. However, the administration has publicized in advance departure dates for several other city employees who have left the city recently including Shantay Jackson, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and Jason Mitchell, the city’s director of the Department of Public Works.
Harrison’s contract requires the city to continue to pay Harrison’s salary for the duration of his contract, which expires in March, if he is terminated without cause. If the commissioner is terminated for “just cause,” the city continues to owe benefits but not salary.
However, city officials have said Harrison was not terminated, and instead resigned. Resignation triggers a different provision in the contract which requires Harrison to give 90 days’ written notice. In the case of a resignation, Harrison is not entitled to his salary for the duration of the contract, but instead must receive “accrued salary for services performed until the effective date of his resignation and the payout of any leave” required by the contract.
The Sun’s request for Harrison’s resignation letter was denied by both the mayor’s office and the Baltimore Police Department.
Harrison’s current salary is $287,540, about $12,500 more than his starting salary of $275,000. His contract guarantees a minimum 3% annual raise and offers the possibility of further increases “upon attainment of objective crime reduction metrics and subjective personal performance factors.”
A Louisiana native, Harrison moved to Baltimore in 2019 from New Orleans where he spent 27 years rising through the ranks. He was the pick of a city search panel but was then-Mayor Catherine Pugh’s second choice. She first announced she was selecting Joel Fitzgerald, the police chief of Fort Worth, Texas, but selected Harrison after Fitzgerald withdrew.
He has led the city’s police force as it struggled with stubborn gun violence, recording more than 300 homicides each year since 2015, and consistent shortages of patrol officers.
He’s also guided Baltimore through its federal consent decree reforms, which are ongoing six years after the city reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to address unconstitutional policing practices. The department has trumpeted successes seen under the consent decree, though onlookers have said the reforms may not be felt as much on the street by residents.
Harrison has not responded to numerous requests for comment from The Sun, but published an op-ed in The Sun on Tuesday saying he has accomplished his goals in Baltimore.
“I am extremely proud to have led the Baltimore City Police Department through this period of transformation and cultural change, doing away with the ‘warrior and enforcement-only’ model in favor of the ‘guardian’ model as protectors of the community,” he said. “This department has undergone a 100% makeover and is, without question, a department very different from the one I took over just over four years ago.”
Worley, Scott’s pick to replace Harrison, must still be approved by the Baltimore City Council, a process that thus far has no firm dates. The council will meet next on July 17. His nomination must first be introduced before a council committee hearing can be set.
“We’ll announce the official introduction when ready, and there will be more to come soon,” said Bryan Doherty, Scott’s spokesman.
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