Ramsey has been on a four-and-a-half-month tour of neighborhood and town hall meetings since he took over the helm of the police department in late April. Anyone who has seen him at one of these meetings is struck at how he connects with people in the city’s many diverse communities.

In neighborhood after neighborhood, he spent countless hours listening with Job-like patience to residents complain about the failings of the police department. The chief treated every criticism and lament with reverent weight, never dismissing anyone’s concerns and always giving a thoughtful answer.

Ramsey, a D.C. employee, listens to residents better that most of the politicians we elect who are supposed to listen to us. His candor and sincerity should be the envy of our elected officials.

However, it was last Wednesday, Sept. 9, that Ramsey faced his biggest challenge: telling those under his command he was changing the very structure of their police department. In a filled DAR Constitution Hall, Ramsey’s proposals were greeted by cheers from his cops, confirming that it is not just the residents who are tired of the inefficiencies and unresponsiveness that have long been associated with the MPD.

In a presentation that was part corporate board meeting and part football pep talk, Ramsey hammered home the point that he is fully on the side of the officers in the department. Ramsey’s speech was drowned out by applause several times as he described the lack of accountability and support for the beat cops in the upper ranks of the department. He vowed to root out those in the department at all levels who cannot, or will not, do their jobs. He promised more teamwork in the department. He promised to make the MPD the best police organization in the country. His officers cheered him.

An undertaking as large as what Ramsey has begun requires the patience and support of the folks it affects the most — his officers. The response the plan drew from the rank-and-file last Wednesday is encouraging. The smiles and handshakes the officers and staff exchanged after the presentation indicate the police are willing to support a chief who supports them.

An informal and very incomplete survey outside Constitution Hall showed the police — from commander to cadet — were sold on the plan.

Ramsey ended his meeting in what has become trademark style for him: audience members lined up in front of two microphones to voice their concerns. Ramsey, of course, listened carefully and answered thoughtfully and directly. The chief even postponed his scheduled press conference – making the news media wait — so he could continue answering his officers’ questions, making clear who, in his mind, comes first.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator