Metropolitan Police Department: Remarks from the Public Oversight Hearings on Personnel Policies and Practices of the Metropolitan Police Department

Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement during the "Public Oversight Hearings on Personnel Policies and Practices of the Metropolitan Police Department," sponsored by the Committee on the Judiciary, Council of the District of Columbia. The hearing was held December 13, 2001.

Chairwoman Patterson, members of the Committee and guests ... thank you for the opportunity to present testimony today on the Metropolitan Police Department’s ongoing efforts to improve the quality of police service in the District of Columbia by improving our personnel policies and practices.

Four years ago, when the Council created the Special Committee on Police Misconduct and Personnel Management, the MPD’s personnel management system was in crisis. Not only was the Department beset with individual instances of misconduct and mismanagement; our basic systems for managing the personnel function were in disarray. With the Special Committee’s findings serving as a guidepost, and with the strong support of the Council and Mayor Williams, our Department has taken substantial steps to shore up our personnel management infrastructure and improve our recruiting, training, evaluation, promotional and disciplinary processes. There is still room for improvement in these and other areas. But I firmly believe that we are on the right track, and we are moving forward with the ambitious reform agenda set out by the Council and the Mayor.

We have made progress in reforming our personnel policies and practices because we have worked together toward shared goals. Today, one of our most important goals – and common challenges – is to increase the number of police officers in our Department and to maximize their visibility and performance in our communities. I recognize this is a priority of the Council, just as it is a priority of the Mayor and a priority of mine. Very shortly, I will be delivering to the Mayor a detailed plan for enhancing police deployment in our neighborhoods. But as we continue our efforts to increase our ranks and enhance their visibility, there is one thing we will not do – and that is to diminish, in any way, our commitment to the quality of our personnel. Through better hiring practices, enhanced training, new and more regular promotional opportunities, and a sounder disciplinary system, we have made dramatic improvements in boosting the quality of our workforce. We will not back-slide on those gains, as we move ahead with increasing our ranks and boosting visibility.