On Way Out, D.C. Chief Gets Credit, Criticism

Charles Ramsey leaves helm of D.C. police today. (Susan Biddle - The Washington Post)

Charles H. Ramsey arrived in spring 1998 as the District's newly minted police chief with a mandate to cut spiraling crime, build stronger relations with the community and reform a department tainted by scandal.

Under his watch, crime has dropped, standards have become tighter and the public has received access to more public safety information than ever, due in part to a Web site that charts robberies, burglaries and other offenses by the block.

Ramsey, a career cop who got as much attention for his personality as his policies, leaves office today as the city's longest-serving chief in more than three decades. As a master of the sound bite, he often spouted off about crimes and railed about topics that were beyond his control, including irresponsible parents and failing schools.

His critics -- in the police union, on the D.C. Council and in some crime-ravaged neighborhoods -- view him as a showboat. In many parts of the city, residents say that they don't see enough officers on patrol and that crimes are not investigated quickly or thoroughly. Inside the agency, morale is low, with officers saying that Ramsey overworked them by declaring crime emergencies that took away days off and lasted for months.

"I think he gets an A for public relations, but for actual substance, I think he gets a D," said Ronald E. Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association and a former D.C. police officer who was a member of the citizens panel that interviewed Ramsey and two other finalists for the job.

But Michael A. Mason, executive assistant director of the FBI, said public relations is a "huge part" of the job. "What police do is the embodiment of public relations," said Mason, who once headed the FBI's Washington Field Office.

Ramsey, 56, was hired at a time when the city's government was emerging from financial chaos and being run by a federally appointed control board. He was chosen from among 51 candidates, and as chief, had the backing of the control board, then-Mayor Marion Barry (D) and the 13-member D.C. Council. They wanted Ramsey to restore the force's credibility.

"I think he's been a good chief overall," said Barry, now a Ward 8 council member. "And he's viewed very favorably by people in the community."

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who succeeded Barry in 1999, was one of Ramsey's biggest supporters. But over time, the makeup of the council changed, and critics emerged. They included council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), who becomes mayor next week. Soon after Fenty was elected in November, he announced plans to replace Ramsey with Cathy L. Lanier, a veteran D.C. commander and Ramsey protege.

Fenty said he wants to make the 3,800-member force nimble enough to respond to specific neighborhood concerns -- the everyday problems that he heard about in two years on the campaign trail. Fenty said he thinks that Lanier, 39, will bring new vigor and ideas to the force.

Ramsey had a similar charge when he was brought to Washington from the Chicago police department, where he was a deputy superintendent. He inherited a force that had been in near-constant turmoil under former chief Larry D. Soulsby, who resigned after his roommate, a D.C. police lieutenant, was arrested in a corruption probe.

Fewer than half of the city's officers were assigned to street patrols at a time when crime was escalating. The department was still paying the price for rushing officers through screening and training in a hiring push in 1989 and 1990; numerous officers from those classes were indicted or accused of departmental misconduct. The force's technology and equipment were so antiquated that many offices had rotary phones.