Ed Norris

Edward T. Norris (born April 10, 1960 ) is an American radio host, actor and former law enforcement officer in Maryland.

He is the cohost of a talk show on WJZ-FM (105.7 The Fan) in Baltimore, Maryland.

Norris was born on April 10, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York.

He is of Irish and Italian descent.

He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and attended the University of Rochester.

At Rochester, Norris played football, was president of the boxing club, and boxed in the light heavyweight division as an amateur.

Financial setbacks led to Norris' departure from Rochester, and jump-started his career in law enforcement, as he was sworn into the New York Police Department.

Norris later completed his college career at St. John's University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

Norris was sworn in as a member of the New York Police Department on September 2, 1980.

Upon graduating from the Police Academy, Norris was assigned to the Midtown South Precinct in Midtown Manhattan (Times Square).

During Norris's tenure with the NYPD he held the ranks of Police Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Deputy Inspector, Deputy Chief and Deputy Commissioner of Operations.

Norris worked various assignments throughout the five boroughs of New York City: uniformed patrol, narcotics, detective bureau, fugitive division, and cold case squad.

As Captain, Norris took command of the Fugitive Division.

In his first year, the number of fugitives captured doubled from 6,000 to 12,000.

Norris was promoted to Deputy Inspector by then Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

To further reduce crime, Norris proposed the idea of creating a special squad to focus on unsolved violent crimes, such as murder and forcible rape.

In the first six weeks after creating the Cold Case Squad, the unit re-investigated and solved 27 previously unsolved murders, which generated national interest.

NPR launched a story by Melissa Block featuring the unit on All Things Considered.

The squad inspired the book The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad by Stacy Horn and A&E's television series Cold Case Files.

As a result of Norris's many accomplishments, he was promoted from Deputy Inspector to Deputy Commissioner by then Police Commissioner Howard Safir.

Over the next four years, Norris presided over the Compstat meetings along with Chief of Department Louis Anemone.

Norris was also responsible for devising and implementing all crime reduction strategies during that term.

During Norris's service, New York City experienced a dramatic decline in crime.

Norris actively lectured about the NYC Crime Reduction Plan throughout the United States and Europe including the FBI National Academy in Quantico, the French National Police Academy in Paris, Interpol in Lyon, France and the German National Police Academy in Rhineland Westphalia.

Kahane was killed in a Manhattan hotel by an Arab gunman on November 5, 1990, after Kahane concluded a speech warning American Jews to immigrate to Israel before it was "too late".

He was shot by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen.

Nosair fled the room, shooting 74-year-old Irving Franklin.

As Nosair continued onto Lexington Avenue, attempting to flee in a taxi, he saw a police officer approaching him.

Nosair stepped out of the taxi and fired shots toward the officer.

The officer returned fire and both men lay wounded in the street.

Upon searching Nosair's wallet, a list was found containing the names of several New York elected officials along with Nosair's New Jersey address.

At Nosair's home, detectives found and arrested two Egyptian men who admitted to driving taxis for a living as well as being in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.

The ensuing search of Nosair's home revealed many items of concern including photographs of New York City landmarks, classified US military documents, bomb-making manuals, and books containing Arabic diagrams that Norris believed to represent plans to hijack an armored car.

These diagrams were later revealed to be a plan to assassinate then Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, it was later revealed that Kahane was the first al-Qaeda murder inside the United States, as well as the first incident leading up to 9/11.

Norris, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, served as Police Commissioner for Baltimore from 2000 to late 2002 and Superintendent of the Maryland State Police in 2003.

Norris played the eponymous detective Edward Norris in HBO's The Wire.

In 2003, Norris was convicted of a felony and spent six months in federal prison.

While commander of the 17th Detective Squad, Norris led the investigation into the murder of Meir Kahane, an American-Israeli rabbi and ultranationalist writer and political figure.

At the time, the NYPD officially classified the murder as the act of a lone gunman, over the protests of Norris who warned of a bigger conspiracy.