Nutter Names Former DC Police Chief to Head Phila. Police Deptartment

   
KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

Barely one week after being elected mayor, Michael Nutter on Thursday answered what has been the key question facing him: who he'll appoint as the next police commissioner for Philadelphia.

KYW's Mike Dunn reports that the answer from Nutter is a law enforcement veteran from Chicago and Washington, DC:

"It is with great honor that I name chief Charles H. Ramsey as the next police commissioner of the City of Philadelphia."

The next police commissioner of Philadelphia is a veteran commander from Chicago who most recently was chief of the 4,400-member police force in Washington, DC, from 1998 to 2006.
 
Nutter said he wanted someone with three qualities -- a record at the head of a major police department, the ability to communicate with residents and rank-and-file officers, and an unwavering commitment to public safety.

Ramsey, 57, who stepped down as the DC police chief last year, fits Nutter's bill:

"I said a long time ago that I was going to search locally, regionally, and nationally for the best person I could find. Chief Ramsey is my choice. I think he's the best person to lead the department right now."

Nutter says that once Ramsey settles in, residents will witness quick results:

"I'm sure that in the coming months after the inauguration, Philadelphians should start to see a difference on the streets of the city."

And even though his choice does not come from within the ranks of the department, Nutter insists that top current commanders in the police department are enthusiastic about Ramsey.

Nutter deferred questions about his long-held promise to declare a crime emergency; that, he said, will be decided as part of Ramsey's overall strategy.

The current commissioner, Sylvester Johnson, has already announced his intentions to retire from the police department's top position at the end of the year.

Ramsey, a strong advocate of community policing, is credited with improving police services in Washington and with reworking the police department there, giving more authority to commanders at the community level.

Ramsey was chief of police in Washington during the notorious "DC Sniper" case, when the city was gripped in fear by an apparently random series of shootings, and during the high-profile Chandra Levy murder case. 
  
KYW's Tony Hanson reports that the Philadelphia's next police commissioner joined the Chicago police force at age 18, and served there for 30 years before becoming the chief in Washington, DC.

Ramsey says he's honored to be part of the team. At a noontime press conference on Thursday, he told the mayor-elect he won't let him down.

Ramsey comes into a tough situation here -- with the murder rate up, morale inside the department down, and shooting attacks on police frequent. 

And he offered his sympathies to the family of Chuck Cassidy, killed in the line of duty earlier this month:

"It's something that you never, ever get used to. I've been in policing for almost 39 years, and I've lost a lot of friends. And it's something that is just inexplicable, when someone is brazen enough to shoot down a police officer on any city street. It sends a message that we absolutely cannot tolerate."

Chief Ramsey says he'll study the department before talking specifics on changes.

KYW's Steve Tawa reports that the union representing police officers in Philadelphia is "disappointed" that the mayor-elect did not pick the city's next commissioner from within the department.

Fraternal Order of Police leader John McNesby says he got a courtesy call from the mayor-elect just before the announcement that he was picking someone from the outside.

McNesby (right) didn't want to characterize his reaction to Nutter's news:

"It's Mayor-elect Nutter's decision about whom he wants to lead the department. We're going to have to work with the person whom he appoints. That's the ultimate goal, to do what's best for the officers on the street and the community."

McNesby believes there were easily a half-dozen people within the department, from inspector to deputy commissioner, who could have filled the job:

"I think the talent pool was very, very rich."

He hopes Commissioner Ramsey reaches out to officers on the street, to get their input on big issues, including police strategy on dealing with the soaring homicide rate, as well as the little things that will boost morale.

KYW's Kim Glovas spoke with a Washington DC radio reporter who reflects on Ramsey's accomplishments there.

Mark Segraves of radio station WTOP-FM in DC says Charles Ramsey entered as police commissioner when violence was riding a wave.

"DC was the murder capital of the nation.  The crime and crack cocaine epidemic were out of control. Ramsey came in when DC was under the control of the US Congress at the time, the control board put him in power and he was very successful in getting the overall crime rate down and certainly the homicide rate went down under him."

However, Segraves says Ramsey also was in charge when hundreds of citizens and reporters were arrested, and some of them hog-tied. Those protests happened in 2002 when the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were meeting in DC. Ramsey had to write apologies as part of that public relations blunder.