D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday said Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith is resigning from her role as head of the force.
Ms. Bowser tapped Chief Smith to lead the department in July 2023, making history as the District’s first Black woman to serve as top cop.
She was immediately tasked with guiding the city out of a generational crime wave of killings, carjackings and muggings that were plaguing the nation’s capital.
“When Chief Smith stepped up to lead the Metropolitan Police Department, we had no time to waste. She came in at a very challenging time for our community, when there was significant urgency to reverse the crime trends our city was facing post pandemic,” Ms. Bowser said in her statement.
“Within a year of her tenure, we opened the Real-Time Crime Center. We deployed newer and better technology. We worked with the [D.C.] Council to pass comprehensive legislation that prioritizes accountability. And Chief Smith got all of this done while also navigating unprecedented challenges and attacks on our city’s autonomy.”
Chief Smith became a major proponent of the Real-Time Crime Center, a camera-laden surveillance hub that allows police to access live camera feeds when crimes occur, and created the Robbery Suppression Units to address the scourge of violent car thefts and stick-ups gripping the District.
Chief Smith also wasn’t shy about speaking in support of MPD policies to the D.C. Council, advocating in support of legislation that rolled back some of the policing restrictions that were put in place following the nationwide protests against police brutality in 2020.
Most recently, Chief Smith had her officers cooperate with federal agents during President Trump’s summertime crime crackdown in the District. MPD officers assisted with all sorts of enforcement missions, including immigration sweeps and executing warrants, during the 30-day emergency.
The chief further established special juvenile “curfew zones” to keep unruly youths from inviting chaos in places such as Navy Yard, the Wharf and the U Street Corridor.
The zones were in effect throughout the summer, and after a brief lapse in October that led to brawling juveniles being wrangled by National Guard troops, the zones were brought back into effect last month.
The mayor credited Chief Smith’s leadership with driving down violent crime and lowering the District’s homicide rate to its lowest level in eight years.
