Sandy MaloneBaltimore, MD – The Baltimore police commissioner announced on Wednesday that the police department’s new chief of fiscal services had been fired because it turned out the executive was “a person of interest” in an ongoing murder investigation.
Dana Hayes, 37, was hired by the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) on April 11, WBAL reported.
Hayes was already listed on Baltimore’s Gun Offender Registry when he was hired, WBFF reported.
His name has been on the list that tracks city residents who have been convicted of at least one gun charge since 2019, WJZ reported.
Hayes was arrested on multiple gun charges in 2018.
The homicide case in which Hayes is a person of interest dates back to 2020, WBAL reported.
“We can confirm that this person who was chosen and hired by the Baltimore Police Department has been terminated as of actually, technically, yesterday [and] was interviewed today and is a person of interest in a homicide investigation,” BPD Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
Commissioner Harrison said that background check had been conducted prior to hiring Hayes but that it had obviously failed, WJZ reported.
“We’re correcting that as we speak,” the police commissioner told reporters.
He said Hayes is not a suspect, nor was there a warrant for the former department executive’s arrest.
Commissioner Michael Harrison says that BPD’s chief of fiscal services has been terminated and is a person of interest in a homicide investigation @wjz pic.twitter.com/DiF6emLXSs
— Stetson Miller (@stetsonmreports) April 20, 2022
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office issued a statement and said the mayor had called for a review of BPD’s hiring processes, WJZ reported.
“Upon learning of a systems failure in the civilian hiring process at the Baltimore Police Department yesterday, Mayor Scott has directed Baltimore City Chief Human Capital Officer, Quinton Herbert, to perform a comprehensive review of BPD’s civilian hiring practices and submit recommendations to improve their policies and procedures,” the statement read. “Mayor Scott is committed to reforming HR practices throughout the City to ensure we hire only eligible and qualified candidates to fill these critical positions in city government.”
Holly Matkin
