Smith, who has been the MPD chief since Mayor Muriel Bowser nominated her in July 2023, did not give a specific reason for her decision. She was the first black woman to serve as police chief and the second woman.
“I am deeply humbled, grateful, and deeply appreciative of my time with the District of Columbia,” she said in a statement. “Serving as Chief of Police has been the greatest honor of my career, and I want to extend my sincere thanks to Mayor Muriel Bowser for appointing me to this position and to the DC Council for their steadfast support throughout my tenure.”
Smith believes she made “tremendous progress” during her time as the MPD chief. “While my aspiration has always been to see zero percent crime, we are not there yet. Nonetheless, we have made tremendous progress, and there remains important work ahead,” she said.
Smith will step down on Dec. 31, and an interim chief will be named soon. Bowser praised Smith for lowering crime in the city.
Smith took over as police chief at a time when there was “significant urgency to reverse the crime trends our city was facing post-pandemic,” Bowser said. “Within a year of her tenure, the District opened the Real-Time Crime Center” and issued “newer and better technology” for officers, she added.
“Chief Smith dramatically drove down violent crime, drove down the homicide rate to its lowest levels in eight years, and helped us restore a sense of safety and accountability in our neighborhoods,” Bowser said. “We are grateful for her service to Washington, DC.”
The city is on pace for an eight-year low in homicides, and violent crime is currently down 28%, according to the police department.
Smith told Axios that her decision came without influence from the federal government. “There comes a time when you just know it’s time,” she said. The MPD chief coordinated with federal authorities during President Donald Trump’s sweeping takeover of the department. She embraced the move at the time because it helped the department as it struggled to maintain ideal force levels.
“These relationships with [federal] law enforcement are not new,” Smith told FOX 5 in August. “It will help me do the things that I need to do, and to the mayor’s point, we are down 800 police officers.”
But she faced criticism over what some saw as the MPD’s cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She rejected those claims.
“We are not aligned with ICE. We do not, and have not since the crime emergency, worked alongside ICE,” Smith said. “[Social media] videos lend one aspect of what you see. If they show up, they show up. They’re federal officers.”
DC POLICE CHIEF ALLOWS OFFICERS TO WORK WITH ICE TO ARREST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
She also faced controversy over MPD supervisors allegedly altering crime statistics to help boost the city’s crime numbers in a positive direction. A police commander was placed on leave in May. Smith has denied ever telling anyone to alter the city’s crime statistics.
Smith’s departure ensures Bowser will have to choose the 6th MPD chief of her tenure.
