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The police chief who went to prison

By KELLEY BENHAM
Published January 7, 2007

"A Crooked Path"

The story from May 1, 2005

THE STORY: Ed Norris, the snappy-dressing, popular and effective police commissioner of Baltimore, went to prison after pleading guilty to spending police money on steak dinners, shopping trips and extramarital affairs. He then served six months of house arrest in Tampa, where nobody knew who he was, and he tried to keep it that way. Even his son Jack, then 5, didn't know his dad had been to jail. Norris spent his days listening to a mix CD of prison songs and wondering how to rebuild his life.

FROM THE STORY: The hardest question came the night before Norris reported to prison. They were watching Spider-Man 2, and in the movie, Peter Parker got arrested.

"Do good guys go to jail, Daddy?"

THE REST OF THE STORY: Norris was released from house arrest in August 2005, went to Sideberns and drank a Manhattan. Within days, he left for Baltimore, where he had a new job as host of The Ed Norris Show on WHFS-FM 105.7. After a year, he moved his family back to Baltimore. He does commercials and TV appearances. He has returned to his role on HBO's The Wire, playing a detective named Ed Norris. He appeared in nine episodes this season.

"I have more jobs now than I ever had," Norris said. "I'm getting invited to the parties again.

"The other day, I was riding my motorcycle, which Victory motorcycles pays me to ride. I thought, I get paid to ride a beautiful motorcycle to take me to a dream job that only lasts four hours a day. I laughed out loud. This is unbelievable."

A couple of weeks ago, his wife was watching Spider-Man and Daredevil with Jack, now 7. She brought it up. "That happened to Daddy," she said. "A bad man put him in jail and he didn't do anything wrong."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were too little."

WHAT'S NEXT: Norris loves the life he has, but he misses being a cop. He wants a presidential pardon and his old job back. The Baltimore Examiner ran an editorial last month supporting him. Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich has also said he thinks Norris got "the short end of the stick." Norris still has 25 hours of community service to do. And a book to write.

[Last modified January 6, 2007, 12:09:15]