To many people, Ed Norris might seem to have it all.
He hosts a Baltimore radio show on WHFS and can been seen every Sunday night in an acting role on HBO?s “The Wire.”
But the former Baltimore City and state police chief wants the one thing he can?t have ? his old job back.
Norris, 46, said in an interview with The Examiner that he plans to seek a presidential pardon for his 2004 felony conviction in order to return to work in law enforcement.
“Absolutely, positively, I?d want a pardon,” Norris said. “I was born to be a cop. I?d go back tomorrow morning if I was able to.”
Norris pleaded guilty March 8, 2004, to using funds from a Baltimore Police Department account for personal use, and lying on his tax returns by failing to disclose the funds as additional income.
According to his plea agreement, Norris and his former chief of staff admitted to spending between $10,000 and $30,000 of taxpayer money on personal expenditures. Among other things, Norris used the account to finance his affairs with numerous women and pay for luxury hotels, expensive meals, clothing and gifts from Victoria?s Secret.
He was sentenced to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release to end in January 2008 and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.
But Norris says he believes he was politically railroaded by an overzealous prosecutor. He points out that the U.S. Justice Department later reprimanded Maryland U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio, who prosecuted Norris, for pressing his staff for “front-page” political corruption indictments in 2004.
Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich agrees that Norris was mistreated.
“I think he got the short end of the stick,” Ehrlich told The Examiner. Ehrlich declined to comment on whether he would support Norris? effort for a pardon.
Norris said he admits using money from the account, but that he paid it back in full before he left office to take the position of Maryland State Police Superintendent under Ehrlich.
“Even things that weren?t questionable I paid back,” Norris said. “The mayor wanted to make it look like he really disciplined me on this.”
Norris? attorney, David Irwin, said the former top cop will need to complete his community service and supervised release before seeking a presidential pardon.
“As a practical matter, it would be an important part of the package to say you?ve successfully completed all that,” Irwin said. “Still, Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon on the way to the helicopter.”
Sheldon Greenberg, director of the Division of Public Safety Leadership at Johns Hopkins University, said it?s difficult to rate Norris? tenure as a police chief in Baltimore, because he spent less than three years between 2000 and 2002 in the department.
“People say, ?We really liked him?? and, ?He was headed in the right direction?? but that?s all you can say,” Greenberg said. “You can?t really know, because you can?t change an entire community in a short period of time.”
But during Norris? time in office, the city experienced less crime each year and Norris earned a reputation as a likable, brash and hands-on chief, sometimes even making arrests himself.
“He was a good cop and he was a darn good police commissioner,” said Bert Shirey, who was Norris? deputy commissioner before retiring in 2002. “He showed up right away and started locking people up himself. The rank and file had a lot of respect for him. Despite what he did to get convicted, which nobody condones, they still like him and remember him fondly.”
With a pardon, Norris believes, if given a chance, he could continue to reduce crime in Baltimore.
“I came to Baltimore because it?s where the need was the greatest,” he said. “I still feel like I could do a lot more there.”
