According to NBC Washington, recently appointed Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith is facing an uphill battle to curb crime in D.C. Crime stats show that violent crime is up 36% compared to last year, and homicides are up 18% from last year. Smith is taking over a department in need of an increase in staffing, with around 3,000 officers to patrol a city population of approximately 641,301 which leaves roughly one officer for every 213 citizens.
Smith, to her credit, reveals that her plans revolve around ensuring that the public sees her as often as possible: “The community wants the police to be the police and do so in a constitutional, safe, and respectful manner. Make no mistake about it: I will be laser-focused to ensure we do everything we can in this space. What I want folks to know about Pamela Smith is that I will be a visible chief. I will conduct safety walks in all of our districts, PSAs. I will meet folks probably at inopportune times. Folks will see me showing up in places and spaces, not because other chiefs have not but because I live here, and it’s important to me that the members feel safe in the District.”
Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. was shot during a carjacking attempt in August 2022 ahead of his rookie season. In January 2023, it was revealed that one of the carjackers was a 15-year-old teenager who shot and killed another teen a week later. Carjackings in D.C. have become increasingly common as Axios reports that they have steadily risen for five years, peaking in 2022. This has put the local community on edge, with 60% of carjacking arrests being juveniles. Smith does have the backing of the police union, which seems to resent the passing of laws aimed at ensuring the police do not overstep their boundary lines as union president Greg Pemberton told NBC Washington: “The city council has passed such onerous legislation through the Policing and Justice Reform Act that it’s impossible to go out and do your job, and I’m talking about professional, responsible, constitutional policing,” Pemberton claimed. “Officers can’t do that anymore without risking their lives, without risking their career, without risking criminal, administrative, civil penalties.”
Among Smith’s top priorities is curbing the violent crime rate among juveniles, and she wants to reach out to parents to help accomplish this goal. She is also focusing on increasing the use of “hot-spot” policing, which is going into areas where there is a lot of crime and policing those areas. The database of police practices Crime Solutions rates this practice as promising for reducing violent crime and effective at reducing overall crime, which makes Smith’s focus on this practice useful, particularly as the department grapples with staffing shortages. Smith is the first Black chief of police that D.C. has had, and she takes over at a critical time for the department. Smith must still be officially confirmed by the District of Colombia’s City Council, which could get messy. Still, Smith is seen as a strong candidate with an established track record of improving the perception of the departments she has worked for.
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