Hearing on Metropolitan Police Department Performance in FY 2003 and FY 2004 - Statements

Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement to the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on the Judiciary, the Honorable Kathy Patterson, Chair, on March 1, 2004, at the Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

Good afternoon, Chairperson Patterson, other members of the Committee and Council, staff and guests. Thank you for the opportunity to present this opening statement concerning the Metropolitan Police Department’s performance during fiscal year 2003 and year-to-date for fiscal 2004. Several other members of the Department’s Command Staff are here today to assist me in responding to your questions. The text of my prepared statement is posted on the Police Department’s website, mpdc.dc.gov.

Fiscal 2003 was another year in which the Metropolitan Police Department faced a number of unique challenges – everything from sniper attacks in our region and elevated terrorism threat levels, to snow emergencies and Hurricane Isabel. When unusual events such as these take place, the members of our Department are called upon to put aside their own individual and family responsibilities, and to focus on ensuring the safety and security of the public at large. I am extremely proud to lead a Department of men and women who continually demonstrate the commitment to serve the people of the District of Columbia during difficult times, even if it means tremendous personal sacrifice. Speaking of personal sacrifice and service, I also want to publicly acknowledge and thank the more than 50 sworn MPD members who are currently on military leave, serving our country overseas. Our thoughts and prayers are with these brave citizen-soldiers in the hope that they will return home soon and safely.

But while fiscal 2003 will, in many ways, be remembered for its major events and emergencies, the Metropolitan Police Department remained squarely focused on our priorities of neighborhood crime, neighborhood policing and neighborhood problem-solving. Being the primary law enforcement agency of our nation’s capital, the MPD will always have unique challenges and special responsibilities that no other police department in America will ever face. But our primary responsibility and our overriding focus – in FY 2003 and in every other year – remain the safety of our neighborhoods.

I am pleased to report that our Department has made steady and significant progress in FY 2003 and FY 2004 in meeting the challenges of neighborhood safety. Both crime rates and clearance rates are headed in the right direction. Some long-planned enhancements have come to fruition, including creation of the Family Liaison Specialist Unit, a hiring plan to bring our sworn ranks up to 3,800, and improvements in the Public Safety Communications Center. And implementation of other priorities – including restructuring of the Police Service Areas and new legislative and management reforms affecting officer availability – are moving forward. There are certainly new challenges on the horizon – not the least of which is the safety of our schools and the MPD’s role in providing for school security. But I feel confident that our Department is ready to meet those challenges, as we continue to work at driving down our city’s crime rate.