By Allison Klein and David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 18, 2006

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey will soon be stepping down as Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty considers former city police officials to lead the force, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Ramsey is expected to leave when Fenty takes the helm of the city Jan. 2. Fenty could make the announcement as early as next week, one source said.

Ramsey, who was hired eight years ago by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), has said that he wants to stay. He is the longest-serving chief in more than three decades of home rule. But Fenty, who for years was one of the chief's most vocal critics, has been looking elsewhere, according to the sources. Ramsey and Fenty squared off over deployment and other issues during Fenty's time on the D.C. Council.

Ramsey and Fenty (D) declined yesterday to comment on the chief's future. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Fenty has been publicly noncommittal for months about Ramsey's fate, saying he wanted to name his upper-level Cabinet before discussing the future of city agency chiefs. He has suggested that Ramsey, and the police, could get better results under a hands-on mayor. Ramsey has at times appeared exasperated with this process, at one point telling a reporter that he had no intention of having to "sing for his supper."

The change would create an opening in one of the nation's most high-profile law enforcement positions. The D.C. chief must deal not only with crime but also the threat of terrorism and provide security for presidential inaugurations and other major events in the nation's capital.

Ramsey has said that if he is no longer chief, he would look toward the private sector or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rather than heading another local agency. In recent months, he took himself out of consideration for the job as Boston's police chief.

It is unclear who would replace Ramsey, but sources said Fenty or his team is looking at a handful of former D.C. police officials who are chiefs in other cities. Possible contenders include Richmond Chief Rodney D. Monroe, Atlanta Chief Richard J. Pennington and Frederick Chief Kim C. Dine. They could not be reached for comment.

Yesterday, Fenty's designated city administrator, Dan Tangherlini, met with Ramsey for an hour as part of a review of city agencies. Fenty, who was not at that meeting, said yesterday that Tangherlini and Ramsey focused on the department's performance and not Ramsey's future.

"We understand the interest and want to make sure we're not keeping people [in limbo], and I assure you we're not," Fenty said. He declined to comment further on the future of any agency director until his review is complete.

Two D.C. Council members who have publicly supported Ramsey said they were shocked to learn he might be leaving.

"I wanted him to stay, but I'm not the mayor of D.C.," said Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chairs the council's Judiciary Committee, said Ramsey's exit sends a negative signal to potential replacements. "Someone who has a national reputation as an excellent chief, it does not look good to the outside when you get rid of him," Mendelson said.

Ramsey has been a telegenic chief since he arrived in Washington in 1998, deft in front of a bank of microphones and a larger-than-life presence at community meetings. Sometimes referred to as a "celebrity police chief," he is well-known in national police circles and frequently speaks publicly about social problems in the city.

Ramsey has outlasted most big city police chiefs, who generally serve for four years or fewer, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum.

"The job is like riding a bronco," Wexler said. "There are so many issues that come about, it takes its toll. It's rare to find someone who is as hard-working and optimistic as Chief Ramsey."

Ramsey came to Washington from the Chicago police department, where he had worked for 29 years and was deputy superintendent. He followed the scandal-marked tenure of D.C. Chief Larry D. Soulsby, who resigned amid questions about his conduct. Soulsby's roommate pleaded guilty to charges of theft, wire fraud and extortion. Soulsby, never charged with any crimes, said he quit to spare the department further controversy.

Ramsey took over at a time when D.C. officers were shooting civilians at rates higher than in any comparably sized department in the nation. Among his first acts were asking the Justice Department to initiate review into the civilian shootings and mandating annual training for officers.

He cracked down on officers abusing medical leave, updated police stations and supplied officers with computers and new cruisers. He built a $7.2 million state-of-the art command center, where he holds crime briefings each morning.

He issued "crime emergencies" to put more officers on the street when they were needed most; led the department through the post-Sept. 11 period; and added dozens of street cameras for traffic, crime enforcement and crowd control. He recently installed a specialized gunshot-detection system in some of the city's most violent neighborhoods.

Crime has dropped significantly since Ramsey became chief. But Ramsey remains concerned about what he has called a "culture of violence" in the city and decried a reluctance by witnesses to come forward, especially in homicide cases. He expressed frustration, for example, about the dearth of witnesses to emerge in the killing last year of 9-year-old Donte Manning, shot on a Northwest street, saying, "We shouldn't have to work this hard to solve a murder of a 9-year-old."

Williams has repeatedly voiced support for Ramsey, but Fenty has said he wants officers to be more engaged with the community and have an increased presence in neighborhoods. The force has 3,800 officers, and Fenty has said the public does not see enough of them working on the streets.

The chief has drawn criticism over the years, and the city settled civil lawsuits over his handling of the 2002 anti-globalization protest in Pershing Park near the White House. Police kept several hundred protesters from leaving the park, then arrested them without giving them proper warning.

Ramsey also has had a tense relationship with his police union.

"There is deep, deep dissatisfaction in the department, and morale is low," said Officer Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the D.C. police labor committee for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1. "Things need to change."

There have been frequent gripes that there are not enough officers on patrols in neighborhoods and that investigators do not adequately follow up on crimes, ranging from burglaries to homicides.

Ramsey came to Washington with a five-year contract. When it came time to renew it, Fenty, a Ward 4 council member, voted against giving the chief a raise, saying: "I'm just left with the feeling that we are headed in the wrong direction at a very crucial point. We are complicitly supporting mediocrity." The council raised Ramsey's salary, now $175,000 a year.

Ramsey's departure would come before the end of his contract, which expires in April 2008. It was unclear whether the city would compensate Ramsey for the rest of his contract.