Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts Wednesday, saying his presence had become a distraction in a city that needs to focus on ending a dramatic spike in homicides. 
 
 "Too many continue to die on our streets, including three just last night and one lost earlier today," Rawlings-Blake said. "Families are tired of feeling this pain, and so am I. ... We need a change." 
 
 The mayor's decision to replace Batts on an interim basis with Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis — effective immediately — came as the City Council was preparing to send her a letter calling for Batts' resignation. And the city's police union was poised to hold a no-confidence vote next week. 
 
 Batts was under attack on multiple fronts amid the disclosure that some police stations have been closed to the public after 7 p.m. and news that three people were shot to death Tuesday night near the University of Maryland's downtown campus. On Wednesday morning, the Fraternal Order of Police issued a highly critical report of police leadership during the recent rioting. 
 
 In her late afternoon news conference, Rawlings-Blake said she was responding not to that report, but to her concern about continued violence. "Recent events have placed an intense focus on our police leadership, distracting many from what needs to be our main focus, the fight against crime," she said. 
 
 Her timing surprised some. Just hours before announcing that she had fired Batts, the mayor's office issued a statement denouncing the union's report as "no more than a trumped up political document full of baseless accusations, finger pointing and personal attacks." 
 
 Batts, who was confirmed to a full six-year term last September, told The Baltimore Sun that he leaves the job proud of his service. 
 
 "I've been honored to serve the citizens and residents of Baltimore," he said. "I've been proud to be a police officer for this city." 
 
 Under the terms of his contract, he will get $190,000 in severance plus a payout for unused leave. He had been earning $201,700 a year. 
 
 Rawlings-Blake's decision was applauded by many church and political leaders, some pointing to the rise in homicides, which reached a 25-year high in May when 42 people were killed. In June, 29 were killed. 
 
 But others pointed to the commissioner's rocky relationship with the community — and with rank-and-file officers. 
 
 "It's very clear that the coach has lost the locker room," said Councilman Brandon M. Scott. "Once the coach has lost the locker room, it's up to the manager to the make the decision that either the coach goes or the locker room goes." 
 
 The Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, a civil rights activist and pastor of Baltimore's Empowerment Temple, praised the "incredibly good decision on the mayor's part to start the process of healing between the community and the police department." 
 
 Rawlings-Blake, who hired Batts in October 2012, described much of his record in positive terms Wednesday, saying he had instituted many reforms. She said he put more officers on the streets during the hours when crime is more likely to occur, brought more transparency to the agency and improved police accountability. "This was not an easy decision," she said. 
 
 Under his six-year contract, if Batts were fired for "just cause" — defined as alcoholism or drug use, committing a felony or being persistently negligent — he would not be entitled to severance. In being terminated without cause, he is entitled to the severance and payout. Sean Naron, a Rawlings-Blake spokesman, said Batts' immediate dismissal Wednesday is considered a firing. 
 
 It's unclear how soon the mayor may look to name a permanent replacement for Batts. She hailed Davis, who previously held police leadership positions in Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties, for his "decades of distinguished service and results." 
 
 "Under his leadership, we will continue to take guns off of our streets. We will continue our focus on repeat violent offenders," Rawlings-Blake said. "We'll continue to look for ways to hold officers who act out of line accountable for their actions." 
 
 Warren Alperstein, an attorney who represents about 30 Baltimore police officers who were injured during the rioting after the death of Freddie Gray, warned that officers may associate Davis with Batts, potentially stalling progress. 
 
 "The resentment is not just toward the commissioner himself," Alperstein said. "It certainly extends throughout his administration." 
 
 While some focused on the deteriorating relationship between the police union and the commissioner, state Del. Curt Anderson, a Baltimore Democrat, saw Batts' chief failing as not being able to reform the culture of the department. A Baltimore Sun investigation last year found that city taxpayers had paid nearly $6 million since 2011 to settle 102 lawsuits alleging police brutality and other misconduct. 
 
 "I know there was a lot of frustration over what was going on in Baltimore," Anderson said. "Clearly when the discussion about the police commissioner becomes more important than actual problem, the mayor has to remove that obstacle." 
 
 Anderson counseled Davis to get a strong leadership team in place so he can carry out his agenda. If Davis is unable to take control, Anderson said, it will raise the question of whether the lower ranks are the department's real problem rather than its leadership. 
 
 Still, Anderson, the co-chair of the General Assembly's new working group on public safety, said he'd prefer someone from outside the agency be chosen as Batts' permanent replacement. 
 
 "I'm not sure a person who's in the system can see it for what it is," he said. 
 
 Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector said Davis' appointment, with his knowledge of the area, is promising. Batts had relocated to Baltimore from California, where he had long worked in law enforcement. 
 
 Davis is "closer to home, so I am hoping that makes a big improvement," Spector said. "We do have a problem when you bring someone in who doesn't know North Avenue from Northern Parkway." ||||| (CNN) Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has been replaced as the city's top cop amid anger over his handling of protests and a startling rise in crime. 
 
 Batts drew widespread criticism for his response to the riots that erupted after the April death of Freddie Gray, a young black man in police custody. 
 
 Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis was tapped Wednesday to be interim commissioner. 
 
 "Recent events have placed an intense focus on our police leadership, distracting many from what needs to be our main focus -- the fight against crime. So we need a change," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told reporters Wednesday. 
 
 "This was not an easy decision, but it is one that is in the best interest of the people of Baltimore. The people of Baltimore deserve better," she said. "I hope that we can now get refocused on what is the most important. We cannot continue to have the level of violence that we've seen." 
 
 The move came as the city's police union said in a report that the riots were preventable and fueled by the "passive stance" adopted by Batts and top commanders. 
 
 Claiming police brass "put the image of themselves and City Hall ahead of the safety of its citizens and public servants," the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 released its report on the same day that the law enforcement advocacy group Police Executive Research Forum began its own review of the riot response, as requested by Batts. 
 
 City and police officials have repeatedly denied that any stand-down order was given in response to the demonstrations after Gray's death April 19. 
 
 "I've been honored to serve the citizens and residents of Baltimore," Batts told The Baltimore Sun newspaper on Wednesday. "I've been proud to be a police officer for this city." 
 
 Gray, 25, was arrested on a weapons charge April 12 but suffered a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody that led to his death seven days later. Six police officers have been charged in his death; all have pleaded not guilty. 
 
 'Too many continue to die' 
 
 JUST WATCHED Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts fired Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts fired 01:26 
 
 In his first interview after Gray's death, Batts told CNN's Evan Perez that the community lacks trust in law enforcement, and police must acknowledge that "we are part of the problem." 
 
 Batts admitted a series of tactical mistakes as protests erupted that stemmed from a core problem: Police were not prepared for such massive demonstrations -- particularly once they turned violent. 
 
 In announcing her dismissal of Batts, Rawlings-Blake repeatedly stressed she wants to draw attention away from questions over leadership and back toward the actual work of policing. 
 
 She said that Baltimore is experiencing a crime surge. 
 
 There were 42 homicides in the city in May, the deadliest month since 1972. 
 
 "As we have seen in recent weeks, too many continue to die on our streets, including three just last night, and one lost earlier today," the mayor said. "Families are tired of feeling this pain, and so am I." 
 
 'Is the Baltimore Police Department prepared?' 
 
 FOP Lodge 3 President Gene Ryan said in a news conference that the city's response to the rioting was "politically motivated and uncaring," CNN affiliate WBAL reported. The union's review was undertaken because rank-and-file officers "do not want to see Baltimore burn again," he said. 
 
 The 32-page report said officers did not have the proper equipment, training and leadership to respond to the days of unrest that resulted in injuries to more than 200 officers and millions of dollars in property damage. It also said the Police Department's criminal intelligence section was "severely hampered by the understaffing of trained detectives." 
 
 "Before and during the riots, Police Commissioner Batts and his top commanders adopted a passive stance that put the image of themselves and City Hall ahead of the safety of its citizens and public servants," the police union report said. "This tentative posture allowed the destruction of personal property and needless injury to first responders. The question begs now, is the Baltimore Police Department prepared for the next potential unrest?" 
 
 The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokesman for Rawlings-Blake said it was "disappointing that the FOP continues to issue baseless and false information instead of working with us to find solutions that will protect our officers." 
 
 Spokesman Kevin Harris said the city hoped the police union's review "would shed some additional light on how we can better prepare our officers should there be future unrest. Instead, this report is no more than a trumped up political document full of baseless accusations, finger pointing and personal attacks." 
 
 He promised a city review of the protests would be "extensive, independent and consist of all the facts."
– Not-so-surprising news out of Baltimore: Police chief Anthony Batts is out of a job. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced his firing today, reports the Baltimore Sun. "We need a change," she said. "The people of Baltimore deserve better." Though the mayor praised the chief's nearly three years of service, she said the city's surge in violence demanded action. Batts also has taken criticism of late not only for his handling of the Freddie Gray riots but for the department's alleged culture of misconduct and brutality. (The Justice Department, for example, is investigating.) Before the mayor's announcement, the police union issued a scathing report accusing Batts and other department leaders of a "passive" response to the initial Freddie Gray unrest that led to further violence, reports CNN. Top commanders "put the image of themselves and City Hall ahead of the safety of its citizens and public servants," says the union. A spokesperson for the mayor criticized the union for "baseless" accusations like that. (This sign inside a police van probably didn't help Batts' case.)