Former Officer Pierre Dorsey Charged with Impersonating a Police Officer

A former city police officer is due in court this morning after being charged with posing as an undercover officer at a Southwest Baltimore high school.

School police say 26-year-old Pierre Dorsey of the 4400 block of Shamrock Ave. told an officer he was working for the principal of Edmondson High School on an undercover detail to investigate illegal activities occurring in the school and crimes that involved students at nearby Edmondson Village Shopping Center.

But Dorsey said he did not have any identification, and the principal said that she had not asked Dorsey to conduct any observation, according to records. She believed he had been assigned there by the Police Department. When she approached him, he had flashed a yellow Baltimore City license and said he was not required to carry a badge in his undercover capacity, records show.

Anthony Guglielmi, a city police spokesman, confirmed that Dorsey worked for the department from 2005 until his resignation in 2007. Citing personnel rules, Guglielmi said he could not reveal whether Dorsey had been facing internal discipline when he resigned.

Dorsey told school police that he was assigned to the Southwestern District and gave the name and phone number of Duane Verderaime from the City Union of Baltimore. Verderaime did not return phone messages.

Officers towed Dorsey's vehicle from the school and inside found a black bag with books containing tickets for traffic and criminal citations, as well as citizen contact tickets.

According to court records, Dorsey's wife, Centria Dorsey, works at Edmondson High School and also told police that her husband was working on behalf of the principal. Edie House-Foster, a city schools spokeswoman, confirmed that Centria Dorsey was an employee and said that Pierre Dorsey had been visiting the school beginning in October, though she said he was not there every day.

A phone number for Pierre and Centria Dorsey was out of service, and neither could be reached for comment. Records show that they faced foreclosure proceedings last month.