Overhaul Set for District Police

Lanier is reestablishing the bureau system, which puts assistant chiefs in charge of a function rather than a chunk of the city. This way, Lanier said, patrol officers will be assigned to areas with the greatest need, and the investigative staff will become more cohesive and effective. One newly appointed assistant chief, Patrick Burke, who had been a commander in the special operations division, will head a new bureau for homeland security.

The city's 2,000 patrol officers will be under the direction of Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, who was promoted from 1st District commander. Groomes, a 17-year member of the department, will have the authority to reassign officers quickly in response to crime. Currently, making those changes involves several layers of bureaucracy, Lanier said.

"We had too much chain of command," Lanier said.

Detectives and other investigators will report to Assistant Chief Winston Robinson, who was head of ROC east, or the police districts east of the Anacostia River.

Lanier said she and Ramsey come from different generations of policing.

Lanier, who earned two master's degrees at Ramsey's urging, said it has been years since Ramsey studied cutting-edge policing and technology. "I've been immersed in it the last 10 years of my career," she said. "It's not that long ago I was a patrol officer. That helps reduce the gap between strategy and tactics."

Lanier said she is automating police reports and streamlining databases after 11,000 police reports were initially not included in a tally of crime statistics last year. She is distributing 400 laptop computers to patrol officers, and she encourages district commanders to keep residents informed about crime on Web-based community message boards.

In overhauling the department, Lanier said she looked back at more than a dozen years of D.C. police organizational charts, as well as setups in 15 major cities across the country.

She said it took more than nine months to come up with her plan, in part because she interviewed scores of police officials, asking them their goals and whether their personal lives could sustain the round-the-clock work hours she demands of her top officials.

"I set a direction, and if anyone could keep pace, I wanted to keep them on," Lanier said. "I expect a very high level of output."

D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chairs the public safety committee, said last night that he is pleased with Lanier's reorganization.

"It's to the chief's credit that she waited nine months and got a feel for the department before she did it," he said. "Some of the people moving up to assistant chief have a very good track record."