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February 25, 2003
Metropolitan Police Department Performance in FY 2002 and FY 2003
Charles H. Ramsey
Chief of Police
Metropolitan Police Department
Chief Charles H. Ramsey delivered the following statement to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Honorable Kathy Patterson, Chair, Council of the District of Columbia on February 25, 2003.
Good afternoon, Chairperson Patterson, other members of the Committee and Council, staff and guests. I appreciate the opportunity to present this opening statement concerning the Metropolitan Police Department’s performance during fiscal years 2002 and year-to-date 2003. Several other members of the Department’s Command Staff are here today to assist me in responding to your questions. And, as is my custom, the text of my prepared statement is posted on the Police Department’s website, mpdc.dc.gov.
Raising the Performance Bar
As Chief, I have testified at performance hearings such as this one for the past several years. While I would not always characterize these hearings as particularly easy or enjoyable, they have certainly been useful and very much appreciated. The oversight of this Committee and this Council has been a critical factor not only in helping to professionalize the MPD, but also in raising the bar in terms of the performance expectations of our agency. When an organization can’t buy office supplies or gasoline for its vehicles, can’t replace worn-out tires – let alone 10-year-old cars, or can’t even account for all of its employees, the expectations for that organization’s performance are pretty low. This was the very type of low-performing, low-expectation organization that the MPD was, when I became Chief. Five years later, the MPD is a very different type of organization.
- Five years ago, MPD facilities were dilapidated, uncomfortable, and in some cases unsafe. Police stations with neither toilet paper nor Xerox paper were commonplace. Today, almost every MPD facility has undergone significant renovation, making them more efficient for our staff and more accommodating for the community. During FY2002 and 2003, important new facilities have been opened or are scheduled to open, including the 4D-1 substation on Park Road, NW, the Mobile Crime facility on V Street, NE, the new Central Cellblock; the new Fleet Maintenance Facility on West Virginia Avenue, NE, the ROC North headquarters at the former Petworth Elementary, and a new full-service, indoor firing range in Cheltenham, Maryland, being built jointly with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
- Five years ago, MPD’s vehicle fleet was is sad shape. Cars were old, with high mileage and prone to break down – sometimes when responding to emergencies. Today, the average age of our fleet has been reduced from almost 10 years to 3.5. New vehicles are being purchased on a regular basis – 185 during FY 2003. A top-flight vehicle maintenance program has been implemented, and new types of “vehicles” have been added to our fleet, including the Falcon One helicopter.
- Five years ago, computers in the MPD (where they existed) were outdated, few cars had mobile data computers that worked, data collection and analysis were primitive, and our “command center” consisted of a card table, a telephone, a police radio and maybe a PC. Since that time, we have purchased hundreds of new desktop computers; we have installed MDCs in several hundred police cruisers; we have moved into a new Public Safety Communications Center; we have built a state-of-the-art Joint Operations Command Center that was pressed into action on September 11th, 2001, and continues to serve as a backbone for our terrorism response efforts; and, most recently, we have created or upgraded data analysis and investigative systems such as SMART, Columbo and WACIIS.
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