New head of city criminal justice office named
Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young named Friday a member of the city’s innovation office to help lead his administration’s crime reduction efforts.
Tamika C. Gauvin will take over Dec. 17 as director of the Office of Criminal Justice.
The office’s former director, Ganesha Martin, submitted her resignation letter last month. She was an attorney who previously spearheaded the Baltimore Police Department’s consent decree compliance efforts.
With a master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gauvin spent two years as program manager and deputy director of the Baltimore Innovation Team to develop data-driven solutions to some of the city’s problems. Much of her research centered on the police department’s recruitment and hiring, and she helped the chronically shortstaffed agency develop a marketing campaign that led to a spike in applications.
The criminal justice office is charged with advising Young on crime reduction efforts, coordinating criminal justice initiatives and overseeing millions of dollars in public safety grants for the city. The office has a critical role in a city that, for the fifth year in a row, has surpassed 300 homicides.
Gauvin will oversee an office with 16 full-time employees and a $17 million operating budget.
“Tamika Gauvin has proven herself an exceptional, thoughtful, and methodical manager,” the Democratic mayor said in a statement. “Tamika spearheaded BPD’s impressive new recruitment campaign and is currently directing an initiative to reform and expand the city’s juvenile diversion work.”
Gauvin’s previous job paid $112,200, according to the city’s salary database. Martin’s salary was $172,000.
Gauvin, 42, will be paid $140,000.