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Patting him on the back, thighs, pockets, and jacket, a mugger congratulated Baltimore’s recently hired deputy police commissioner on his newest position: arms in the air.
Deputy police commissioner Daniel Murphy, brought in from New Orleans to help lead sweeping reforms and to be a New Orleanian wherever he is, was robbed at gunpoint while out with his wife one night.
The couple was greeted by a welcome party of four men in an SUV, two of whom jumped out and approached showing a gun to make sure the deputy commissioner and his wife felt completely at home in their new city.
The welcome wagon fled with cellphones, the officer’s wallet, his wife’s purse, some cash, and sidesplitting laughter. While Murphy and his wife were unharmed, police say the deputy commissioner’s ego, unfortunately, did not make it.
Murphy was one of the first top deputies hired earlier this year by new Police Commissioner and former NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison after the two helped enact former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s groundbreaking violence reduction initiative and build the city’s reputation as one of the nation’s safest cities.
Just after starting his new job in April, Murphy said he was positive he could bring the same sense of safety and security that the people of New Orleans enjoy to his new hometown.
“Obviously, every community, every police department is unique, but the success we had in New Orleans is directly transferable to here [Baltimore] and we will modify it as necessary,” he said.
The robbery came just a month after the department launched a new “crime reduction strategy” that it said would “reduce the victimization and fear of victimization of violent crime in Baltimore City.”