D.C.’s Police Chief Pamela Smith Resigns
By • December 15, 2025 0 63
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith entered the position during a nearly 30-year high in homicides in the District. With crime now down, Smith is leaving her job as police chief after just two and a half years. Her predecessors, Cathy Lanier and Peter Newsham, served nine and four years, respectively.
Smith’s short tenure was under scrutiny last summer when President Trump took over the Metropolitan Police Department and the Justice Department subsequently started investigating allegations that Smith’s deputies manipulated crime data.
Despite setbacks from the Trump administration, Smith still made huge strides in the position. Since July 2023, when she became chief, crime has dropped in nearly every category. Smith was also the first Black woman to serve permanently as MPD Chief.
Just before Thanksgiving, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she will not seek reelection. Both Bowser’s decision and the pressure from the Trump administration are not factors in Smith’s resignation. After 28 years in law enforcement, she said she simply decided it was time to step back.
In a statement, Mayor Bowser noted Smith’s accomplishments like opening the Real-Time Crime Center and driving homicide rates to their lowest levels in eight years.
“We are grateful for her service to Washington, D.C.,” Bowser said in the statement.
