Results tagged “chiefcharlesramsey”

>> Oh noes! The Ron Paul blimp launch was delayed, and rescheduled for its D.C. appearance on Wednesday at 3 p.m. [via Wonkette] >> D.C.'s Beacon House Falcons of Edgewood Terrace won Pop Warner Football’s Pee Wee Division I Super Bowl championship on Saturday. [Notions Capital] >> Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey no longer thinks handgun bans are such a good idea now that he works for a city that doesn't have one....

Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey has been named police commissioner of Philadelphia by Mayor-elect Michael Nutter, reports the Associated Press. Ramsey came to D.C. in 1998 after serving for 31 years in his hometown of Chicago, and became Washington's longest-serving police chief in more than three decades, serving as top cop in the District until the end of 2006, when he was replaced by incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty. Since we've had a little bit...

Summer is fast approaching, and that means public pools, barbeques and the inevitable jump in crime. But unlike in years past, city officials are handling this one differently. In an announcement earlier today, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced that all 3,300 of the department's officers would work this weekend, part of a larger plan called the All Hands on Deck Summer Crime Initiative aimed at more effectively deploying resources to prevent...

>> Yeah, you. You need to stay late tonight to make up for the crazy amount of time you're about to have off. That's right, those of us who do not work for the Federal Government are currently glaring up a storm at those of you who do, because the word from on high is now official: President Bush has declared January 2 as the official day of mourning for President Ford, which means Federal...

Morning, fair DCist readers. How was your weekend? Did you do any of the numerous activities in the area, like the homeless walkathon, or celebrating an elephant's fifth birthday? Did you go on a fruitless hunt for the elusive Wii? Or perhaps you got married in a Roman castle? You could have signed with the Cubs for $136 million! Whatever you did, we hope it was excellent. The start of this week seems to...

Good morning, D.C. How're those new Metro express lanes treating you? We know it's only five stations for now, but we're pretty excited by the prospect of a nearly-50% speed-up through the turnstiles during rush hour. There's nothing more infuriating than finding yourself stuck behind a perplexed tourist who's fiddling with his farecard like a newly-tool-using ape at the beginning of 2001 — unless you count the encounter you just had with him on the...

D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey hasn't had to worry about job security for eight years. But as NBC 4 reports today, a new job is something he might soon have to look for.

As more and more details leak out concerning an ambitious terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes leaving London, District Police Chief Charles Ramsey isn't taking any chances. Yesterday Ramsey announced a series of measures police would enact in response to the threat, among them the following: Activated its Joint Operations Command Center, including the network of 19 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the downtown area. Notified MPDC personnel of the situation and encouraged...

Travel Might Suck Today: A word to the wise -- Amtrak and Greyhound might seem like mighty good options in the coming days. As you've no doubt heard, British officials report that they have broken up a plot to blow up airplanes flying from London to the U.S., sending both countries into a security frenzy, writes NBC 4. Things are so bad that passengers are now forbidden from carrying any liquids or gels onto airplanes, and security lines are expected to be much longer and scrutiny much more intense.

Three weeks ago the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation to deal with a spike in violent crime. Among the provisions endorsed by the council was the installation of 23 surveillance cameras throughout the District, at a cost of $2.3 million. But where would the cameras go? Police Chief Charles Ramsey indicated that he would allow Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) -- local neighborhood representatives -- to propose sites which the police would then review.

I was surprised to see a man as liberal as Matt Yglesias argue that expanding the size of the Metropolitan Police Department from its current 3,800 officers to the proposed 5,100 would effectively help decrease crime in the District. I suppose I rarely expect liberals to be on the side of such dramatic increases in police power, given that militarizing a city or country doesn't often track well with pacifying it. Last week Matt claimed...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As part of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' on-going crackdown on crime in the nation's capital, District police officers burst into various Senate Office Buildings this morning, sources tell DCist. The officers, clad in SWAT uniforms and roughly pushing Senate staffers to the ground, raided a number of sundry stores in the Senate complex and confiscated multiple cartons of cigarettes.

The recent increase in violent crime in the District has once again exposed what may be the District's most obvious Achilles Heel -- the continuing racial insecurities and tensions that exist between affluent newcomers (who tend to be white) and a dwindling yet historic African American community. Two murders in the last week -- Andrew Senitt, white, young, in Georgetown; Chris Crowder, black, older, around Mount Vernon -- have brutally exposed the city's racial anxieties,...

In the Washington Capitals first game in 550 days, the city's hockey team defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets before a near capacity crowd long thirsting for the team's return. DCist can't help but be excited for this turn of events -- a full season gone, we finally have one more thing to carry our attention through the soon-to-come winter months. Mayor Offers Barry Support: Upon learning that former mayor and current Ward 8 Council-member Marion...

Yesterday DCist broke the news that Rep. Henry Bonilla, a Texas Republican, was looking to rename 16th Street NW after Ronald Reagan -- adding one more dedication for the nation's 40th president to the 67 that already exist in 24 states. Word spread fast -- before the end of the day, Rep. Tom Davis III (R-Va.), whose committee would review the legislative proposal, encouraged Bonilla to "name anything else he has to look at his...

Last night DCist and about 200 people gathered at the Black Cat for Unbuckled, which featured local musicians Cartel (at left in a photo from DCJohn) and Bicycle Thieves -- proof positive that as old and stuffy as DCist writers can be, we can still throw a mean party. A full review will be up later today, with pictures to boot. Until then, we can all revel in the fact that this long weekend will...

Good morning Washington. Today will be a hot and sticky one: mostly cloudy, with showers and thunderstorms likely all day, and temps in the 80s. Capital Weather says we should expect to "stay in the soup for the next couple of days." Patrick from DCBlogs posted this photo to DCist photos.

Dude, Where's My Car? While car theft isn't a laughing matter, we chuckled for a very brief moment when we heard that Police Chief Charles Ramsey's car was stolen over the weekend. The AP, via WTOP, reports that the chief's 1999 Ford Crown Victoria was stolen after being parked near his house by a police officer when Ramsey was out of town. On Ramsey's way to church Sunday morning, the car was nowhere to be...

So the U.S. Senate won't be going nuclear after all that huffing and puffing. (At least not anytime soon, but ...) All things considered, that's probably for the best. The country witnessed how even a simple evacuation two weeks ago could be so magnificently botched -- so just imagine what the fallout from the nuclear strike would have looked like.

District residents, political leaders, and police gathered tonight in Montrose Park in Georgetown, not far from where Joseph Pozell, who managed nearby Oak Hill Cemetery by day and worked as a volunteer traffic police officer by night, lived with his family. Pozell, who is 58, was critically injured on Saturday, when a SUV making a left turn from Wisconsin Avenue onto M Street hit him. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, police Chief Charles Ramsey, Council-member...

More than two years after 400-plus peaceful protestors were illegally arrested in Pershing Park during anti-globalization protests, a new District law protecting public assembly and the freedom of expression has gone into effect. The First Amendment Rights and Police Practices Act of 2004, whose enactment was spearheaded by Councilwoman Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), was signed on Jan. 27 of this year and took force on April 13. The law declares that protestors have the First...

City officials are reeling after a member of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' cabinet was found dead in her home. Wanda Alston had served as advisor to the mayor as director of the D.C. Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs. She is pictured to the right in a photo from the Washington Blade printed in a story from last July about the selection of a new head for the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration. The AP...

In more protest news, seven of the 400+ protesters unlawfully arrested in Pershing Park during the September 2002 protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank reached a settlement with the District of Columbia today in federal court. The seven plantiffs, including Adam Eidinger, his wife Alexis Baden-Mayer and her father Joe Mayer, will receive $48,000 each and a letter of apology from Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Charles Ramsey. (The photo is...

Wow, we thought Inauguration-related protests had run their course, but we learn from the Post that anarchists went wild in Adams Morgan late Thursday night. This DCist was eating at the Amsterdam Falafelshop on 18th Street and we didn't sense that much was going on. But we guess we were distracted by our fries and falafel to notice that post-Counter Inaugural activities were getting out of hand on the streets.

Although we've already reported on the drop in homicides in the District, an analysis by the Metropolitan Police provides us with a better picture as to the nature of homicide in our city. The MPD is very much pleased with the drop in homicides in 2004. There were only 198 murders in 2004, which is the lowest number of homicides since 1986. In the all-time high in 1991, 482 people were killed in the District....

D.C. police have been in a touch of hot water lately.

A car chase in Northeast this weekend has caused a bit of confusion over whether the Metropolitan Police were in pursuit when the suspect's car hit and killed two children on Florida Avenue. Witnesses tell the Post that police were not chasing the car at the time of the collision. Chief Charles Ramsey is not saying whether the officers were following proper chase procedures, but did blame the crash on the 19-year-old suspect, Eric Palmer.

The W.Times is reporting on a disturbing trend: Kids in the District are being shot and killed at an alarming rate. While this isn't necessarily anything new, the article presents some sobering gun crime statistics.

Tonight, Washington D.C. will celebrate its 21st "National Night Out Against Crime," at a time when Police Chief Charles Ramsey is happy to note that "crime in the District of Columbia, including our homicide rate, is down sharply." The Metropolitan Police department in conjunction with a variety of community and neighborhood groups has planned a number of events. A police press release advises

"Residents who are unable to participate in organized National Night Out activities are still encouraged to turn on exterior lights and spend some time outside on the evening of August 3, as a show of solidarity against crime and for neighborhood safety.

The Post is reporting today that although officials are not planning to close any streets, security personnel will be "more aggressive" searching vehicles coming near the IMF and World Bank for explosives. 17th Street, between Farragut Square and Constitution Avenue (adjacent to the White House's Old and New Executive Office Buildings), is already shut down to all trucks. Although we understand their motivations, DCist is a little concerned by Mayor Anthony Williams and Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey's suggestion D.C. citizens notify the authorities if they spot "strangers photographing possible targets" and "people or vehicles making unusual movements." We wonder when the last time was they took a stroll around the monuments in August.