Washington’s Mayor Bowser says the city’s police chief, Pamela Smith, is stepping down
WASHINGTON– Pamela Smith, who was thrust into the national spotlight after President Donald Trump moved to federalize Washington’s police force and worked to address rising violence in the nation’s capital, is resigning as the city’s police chief, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Monday.
Smith, appointed in 2023, had been recruited to stabilize a department facing staffing shortages and a city rocked by post-pandemic crime. But his tenure took place amid a bitter battle for authority, as Trump asserted federal control over the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed National Guard troops and federal agents alongside city officers.
In announcing his resignation, Bowser praised Smith for “stepping up” at a time of “significant urgency,” crediting him with helping reduce violent crime, reducing homicides to their lowest level in eight years and launching major policing initiatives, including a real-time crime center and new technology upgrades.
“Chief Smith accomplished all of this while confronting unprecedented challenges and attacks on our city’s autonomy,” Bowser said.
The mayor did not explain why Smith was leaving. She also did not announce who would take over the department or whether the change in leadership could affect the city’s broader public safety strategy at a time when Washington continues to recover from historic levels of violence.
In a statement, Smith said she was confident the police force “is in a position of strength and the good work will continue” and that the role has been both a challenge and a reward.
“I am proud of the accomplishments we have accomplished together and thank the people of this city for their trust and partnership,” Smith said. “While my aspiration has always been to achieve zero percent crime, we are not there yet. Nonetheless, we have made enormous progress and there is still important work to be done.”
Smith, a former federal law enforcement official and former head of the U.S. Park Police, took command during one of Washington’s most volatile years in nearly two decades, as homicides surged, carjackings reached record levels and frustration mounted among residents and lawmakers.
The peak in violence in 2023 has prompted congressional hearings and led city leaders to expand police authority, including allowing drug-free zones in areas where crime is persistent. Lawmakers also rewrote parts of the city’s penal code in an effort to stem the rise in violent crime.
Early the next year, the city began to see improvement. Overall crime decreased by about 17% in the first ten weeks of 2024, a decline Smith attributes to the new law and targeted deployments in neighborhoods experiencing repeated unrest. It also imposed temporary curfew zones for young people in several parts of the district.
