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March 31, 2003
Oversight Hearing on Proposed FY2004 Budget for the Metropolitan Police Department
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 March 31, 2003.
Madame Chair, members of the Committee and Council, staff and guests – thank you for the opportunity to present this opening statement outlining the Metropolitan Police Department’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2004. Other members of the Department’s Command Staff are here today to assist me in responding to your questions. As a reminder to the public, the text of my prepared testimony is posted on the Police Department’s website, mpdc.dc.gov.
Today’s budget hearing comes at a unique and challenging time for our nation, for our nation’s capital, for the Metropolitan Police Department and for the communities we serve. With our nation at war abroad, with the heightened threat of terrorism here at home, with more and more Americans taking to the streets to express their opinions about the war and other events, and with street crime, traffic safety and quality-of-life problems still major issues in our neighborhoods – the demands on public safety here in the District have probably never been greater … and the expectations of our performance have probably never been higher. Our police officers and MPD civilian employees are rising to the challenge of these challenging times, and they are performing with tremendous skill and dedication. I am very proud of our members, and I want to use this opportunity to publicly thank them and commend them for their service during this unique period of our history.
As challenging and unpredictable as these times are, I think we all need to be realistic about what the future may hold. The challenges we face today are not likely to go away, or even subside, very soon. If anything, the demands on our Department will only intensify in the weeks and months and even years to come.
But as much as national and international events will continue to impact our city, one fact remains: the number one priority of the Metropolitan Police Department is the safety of our neighborhoods. That will not change. The Mayor has made it clear that neighborhood safety is one of the top three priorities of his Administration. And even with all of the other issues and responsibilities our Department has had to confront over the past 18 months, since “Nine-Eleven,” we are more focused than ever on fighting crime and improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods. In fact, a major reason I have put our officers on 12-hour shifts over the last week is so we can maintain our neighborhood patrols, while also managing increased protest activity and terrorist threats.
The proposed FY2004 budget for the Metropolitan Police Department reflects the unique challenges facing our city and the priority that the Mayor, our Department and our citizens have placed on public safety. This budget puts our agency in a much stronger position than before to tackle those challenges and to enhance our service to the community, through the hiring of additional police officers and by fully funding the commitments to our current employees. In short, this budget provides for the personnel and other critical resources that we need to operate this Department, to manage it effectively, and to achieve the type of results – in our neighborhoods – that I know we are capable of achieving.
I should point out that in the areas of emergency preparedness and homeland security, the District continues to aggressively pursue federal funding to cover many of our public safety costs. To date, our Department has received a large amount of federal support for specialized equipment, training and other needs. And we are confident that additional funding for homeland security at the federal level will mean more dollars for the District as well. But improving the safety of our neighborhoods – and doing so during a lasting period of heightened alert for terrorism – will require the type of funding commitment contained in our FY04 budget.
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