Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela A. Smith announced Monday that she will resign from the force effective Dec. 31, 2025.
The chief came to lead MPD in 2023 at a time when DC violent-crime rates had reached a peak and the community voiced particular alarm around a rise in violent carjackings. She followed Chief Robert J. Contee III, who was MPD Chief on Jan. 6, 2021 and departed in May 2023. ‘
Mayor Muriel Bowser credited the chief in part with the decline in violent crime over the last two years — saying that anyone who could point to those kinds of results surely could call themselves a success. Bowser noted the opening of the Real-Time Crime Center and other initiatives. Smith joined the force after 26 years in federal law enforcement, many of them with the US Park Police (USPP).
Theirs are two of the shorter tenures as DC Chief since the new millenium; Smith will serve 2 and a half years; Contee’s tenure was a month shorter. Peter J. Newsham, who stepped down in 2020, served more than four years; his predecessors, Cathy L. Lanier and before her, Charles Ramsey, served nearly 10 and nearly 9 years respectively.
Smith’s shorter tenure coincided with a dramatic turnaround in public-safety statistics. According to data released by MPD summarized in a Jan. 2025 statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, total violent crime in 2024 dropped by 35% compared with 2023 — the lowest level in over 30 years. In that same period, homicides fell 32%, robberies 39%, and armed carjackings plunged 53%.
By mid-2025, the downward trend appeared to be holding. MPD statistics reported in August, violent crime was down about 26% year-over-year.
Smith’s resignation comes after a year of turbulence. Despite the above numbers, President Donald Trump repeatedly questioned public safety in the District. In May 2025 two Embassy of Israel staffers leaving an event were shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum. In August 2025, an Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was beaten in an apparent carjacking. That same month, Trump issued an executive order that declared a crime emergency in the District. An attempted federal takeover of MPD was blocked by a suit from the DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The department also faced serious tension with the community over perceived cooperation between local officers and federal immigration agents.
Both Smith and Bowser repeatedly denied that MPD cooperated with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During Monday’s conference, Bowser responded to questions about federal agents’ actions, including a recent officer shooting near Benning Road NE, by noting that federal law-enforcement jurisdiction applies nationwide.
Bowser said she will appoint an interim police chief by Dec. 31, drawing on what she called the “deep bench” of potential leaders inside MPD, though she did not rule out considering national candidates. Smith, asked what advice she would offer a successor, emphasized community, communication, and collaboration. She added that she wouldn’t need to advise someone promoted from within, insisting those officers had already been trained as leaders and understood the community’s needs, perhaps better than she did herself. As 2026 begins, Smith said she plans to take time to reflect, relax and remain available to the incoming chief.
Smith said that her decision to step down was not related to federal activity, but rather was a personal decision she came to after discussion with her family. She said she felt like she’d been “running for 28 years”. “It’s time,” she said.
In her resignation statement, Smith said: “I am proud of the accomplishments we achieved together, and I thank the residents of this city for their trust and partnership. While my aspiration has always been to see zero crime, we are not there yet. Nonetheless, we have made tremendous progress, and there remains important work ahead.”
Her departure comes as the federal government continues to take extreme interest in District affairs, a factor that must be considered by any candidate. A permanent new chief must be nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the Council of the District of Columbia.
