Chief of Police Charles H. Ramsey announced today that the Metropolitan Police Department will soon begin collecting data on contacts its officers have with members of the community during traffic stops, field interrogations and other activities.

"In light of the recent audit I ordered of e-mail transmissions through our Mobil Digital Computers, and the subsequent discovery of offensive and racist messages, it is imperative that the MPD acknowledge that we have problems within our ranks that must be addressed," Ramsey said. "As police officers, our job is to provide quality service to all residents, workers and visitors in our nation's capital, without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any other factor. Whereas data collection itself is not a panacea, it will provide important insight into the daily activities of officers to ensure they are performing in a totally professional and impartial manner," he said.

On Friday morning, the Chief is convening an emergency meeting of the Civil Rights Task Force, a group he meets with on a quarterly basis, to discuss the issue of profiling and other forms of police misconduct. The task force includes representatives of the NAACP , Gay and Lesbian Activists Allianc e (GLAA), Chief's Citizens Advisory Council , ACLU and others.

The task force met three weeks ago, when Ramsey agreed to begin exploring how other agencies collect data concerning racial profiling. Subsequent to that session, Ramsey met with Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose and scheduled a meeting with Chuck Wexler, excutive director of the Police Executive Research Forum , to discuss best practices of data collection and analysis from throughout the country. This information will help guide the methods the MPD develops for collecting and analyzing data on community contact.

"I always recognized the problem of racism in policing, but I did not believe that the MPD had the severity of problems found in other major city police departments. I was wrong," Ramsey said. The Chief added, "What is occurring in the MPD is not limited to our agency. It is a problem that is older than our country itself. Perhaps this incident will give us the courage to face this cancer head on and come up with meaningful and permanent solutions."

Related Information

• Addtional Statement from Chief Charles Ramsey
• Transcript from EAC Gainer's Chat Session on the Washington Post Online