Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement to the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on the Judiciary, The Honorable Phil Mendelson, Chair on March 30, 2006, at the Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

Chairman Mendelson, other members of the Council, staff and guests … I appreciate the opportunity to present this statement outlining the Metropolitan Police Department’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2007.  Other members of the Department’s staff are with me to assist in responding to your questions.  The text of my prepared testimony is posted on the Police Department’s website, http://www.mpdc.dc.gov/.

 

The MPD’s proposed budget for FY07 continues the considerable progress that has been made in recent years and it supports our primary goal of maximizing the resources that are devoted to fighting crime in DC’s neighborhoods. The budget will allow our Department to remain at our fully authorized level of 3,800 sworn members. It will also enable us to put even more of those officers in operational assignments through continued funding of our civilianization program. As you know, civilianization allows us to hire civilian staff for some administrative and technical positions currently held by sworn members, thus allowing those sworn members to be reassigned. The budget also supports our critical ongoing needs in the areas of equipment, supplies, fleet and training.  In short, at a time when crime in the District of Columbia is at historically low levels, this budget will allow us to maintain and build upon the impressive gains we have made.