The capital's crime rate declined by about 40 percent while Ramsey was chief, according to his official biography.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who was elected in November after serving on the D.C. City Council, was a frequent critic of Ramsey's. Fenty clashed with Ramsey over issues of police deployment and regularly pushed Ramsey to improve the department's relationship in city neighborhoods.
According to a Washington Post article in November, Ramsey had indicated that he was interested in working in the private sector or with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rather than heading another local police agency.
gus.sentementes@baltsun.com
Frederick H. Bealefeld III
Age:
45
Personal:
Baltimore native; lives in Harford County.
Education:
He is a graduate of Chesapeake High School in Anne Arundel County and attended community college.
Experience:
The 26-year Baltimore police veteran has been acting commissioner since mid-July, after Mayor Sheila Dixon ousted his predecessor, Leonard D. Hamm. He has served in several leadership roles, including deputy commissioner of operations, chief of detectives, area patrol chief and commander of the Southern District. He began as a police cadet with the department in May 1981, when he was 18, and developed a reputation early in his career for being a street-savvy officer in illegal drug investigations.
[Source: Baltimore Police Department
Charles H. Ramsey
Age:
57
Personal:
Native of Chicago; current residence unknown.
Education:
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Experience:
He began his police career in 1968 as an 18-year-old cadet in Chicago. He served as commander of patrol, detectives and narcotics units. In 1994, he was named as a deputy superintendent for the bureau of staff services, where he worked on crafting a nationally recognized model of community policing. He took over Washington's Metropolitan Police Department in 1998, where he was credited with overseeing a decline in crime of about 40 percent during his tenure. He served until the end of last year, after the incoming mayor chose to replace him.
[Source: Metropolitan Police Department]
