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The D.C. Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Pamela A. Smith as the District’s police chief, making her the first Black woman to permanently run the department. She takes over the force at a time when the city is under intense scrutiny for spiking violent crime and a pace of homicides not seen since the late 1990s.
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“I am committed to working tirelessly to serve and protect our community, fostering trust and community relationships, and ensuring the safety of every resident, business, and visitor,” Smith, who has served as acting chief since July, said in a statement.
An ordained Baptist minister, Smith, 55, came to D.C. police last year after more than two decades with the U.S. Park Police, the final 14 months as chief.
She can stir a crowd. But can D.C.’s new police chief keep the city safe?
She faces a challenging time in the District. She must manage an approximately 3,300-member force struggling with low staffing, ease residents’ fears about gunfire and carjackings, and navigate a political environment in which top public safety officials, both local and federal, have been pointing fingers at one another over who is most responsible for the rise in violent crime, particularly among youths.
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In the past two weeks, a 13-year-old boy was fatally shot while allegedly committing a carjacking; a 16-year-old girl was killed while driving a carjacked vehicle, police said; a 14-year-old boy was shot to death late Friday in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Northwest; and police said a food delivery driver was wounded by gunfire during an attempted carjacking.
“Being the chief of police for the D.C. police is a very difficult job,” council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I’m glad someone with Chief Smith’s résumé wants it.”
Despite a continuing surge of violent crime during Smith’s time as acting chief, each of 10 council members who spoke at the session used their allotted time to praise Smith. They lauded her ability to connect with residents, complimented her initiatives that deploy some officers based on real-time crime data and said her decision to encourage officers to patrol streets on foot was making a difference in their neighborhoods.
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Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who chose Smith, was similarly effusive. “Chief Smith hit the ground running in July, sharing her story and vision, making sure she was accessible to residents and businesses, and prioritizing common-sense solutions to long-standing challenges,” Bowser said.
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In nominating Smith, Bowser broke from a practice in recent years of appointing D.C. police chiefs who had risen through the ranks of the department. Some lawmakers and residents expressed concern this summer about hiring a relative newcomer when the city needed urgent help.
Alleged teen carjacker fatally shot as D.C. grapples with youth crime
At the council’s legislative meeting Tuesday, lawmakers said they want to see Smith collaborate effectively with the U.S. attorney’s office for D.C. to help boost the prosecution rate. D.C. police officials have routinely criticized what they say is a lack of accountability for repeat offenders. Prosecutors have argued that many arrests have insufficient evidence to secure convictions.
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U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said his office opted not to prosecute 56 percent of D.C. cases developed by law enforcement agencies in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. In the previous fiscal year, he said, the office declined to prosecute 67 percent of cases — a number that prompted widespread scrutiny, including from members of Congress.
“The District is facing a crime crisis,” said D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5). “It will require all branches of government working together to address real solutions.”
Council members also said they want to see a higher case closure rate. As of Monday, D.C. police had closed 42 percent of open homicide cases. The closure rate at the end of each calendar year dating back to at least 2007 has been above 62 percent, according to police data.
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Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (I-At Large) urged Smith to focus on officer morale, which he said was the worst he has seen in 10 years.
Multiple council members said they hoped Smith would cooperate with a city audit on police department staffing. The auditor has said she wants to interview rank-and-file officers despite objections from the police union. Smith declined to facilitate those interviews, saying her hands are tied because of union concerns about unfair labor practices.
Despite some hiring since 2022, the force had just over 3,350 sworn officers as of April this year, a net loss of about 450 over the past three years. Bowser has said she wants the department to have 4,000 officers by 2031.
“I have high hopes for Chief Smith,” Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large) said. “I also have expectations.”
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