DC Mayor Bowser names new leader of police department, after chief resigns amid crime stats probes

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser named Jeffery Carroll, who has been the executive assistant chief of specialized operations, as interim Metropolitan Police chief.

“I know that he is the right person to build on the momentum of the past two years so that we will continue to drive down crime in the city,” Bowser said at a Wednesday press conference, WTOP reported.

Bowser said Carroll will take over the position temporarily from Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith after she steps down at the end of the month. Smith announced her resignation last week, after two and a half years in the role, just before the Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee released reports alleging that she manipulated crime statistics to give the appearance of less crime in the city.

Smith told FOX 5 that she had not encouraged crime statistics manipulation and denied that there was an issue.

She said that her resignation was “a personal decision for myself and for my family.”

Regarding the investigations into the crime statistics, Carroll said, “We have some information that’s in those reports, but we don’t know all the details of what’s in there. But with that, obviously, we don’t want to wait until the full reports are out. We know there’s some concerns related to the data.”

Carroll said the Metropolitan Police Department plans to address those concerns by improving training for officers on classifying crimes and “tightening up the internal policy” on when crime classifications can be changed.

He added that the MPD is also considering having a dedicated auditing team look over the reports.

When asked about whether he would want to run the department permanently, Carroll said, “My goal is to move the department forward to make sure that we’re driving down crime, to make sure we’re keeping the residents safe, to make sure we’re meeting all the goals and expectations of the community. So may it be for a year, may it be nominated by another mayor, whatever it may be.”

Smith appointed Carroll as executive assistant chief of specialized operations in November 2023.

Whoever takes over the role as MPD chief will first need to earn the approval of the D.C. Council.