Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey announced his retirement Wednesday, ending a 47-year career in law enforcement that included roles in Chicago and Washington, D.C. His last day will be January 7.
Advertisement
“I want to offer my heartfelt gratitude to Commissioner Charles “Chuck” Ramsey for his almost five decades of leadership and service with a few of this nation’s largest law enforcement agencies… I am extraordinarily grateful for Chuck’s service and wish him an enjoyable and restful retirement”.
Philadelphia is a safer city on his watch, as well as a national model for efforts to improve police-community relations.
Democratic mayoral candidate Jim Kenney, who was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, has said he wouldn’t look outside the department for Ramsey’s replacement if he should retire.
“If he doesn’t run this department, ” Ramsey said, “he’ll run one somewhere else”. He became President Barack Obama’s pick to co-chair a panel recommending police reforms in the wake of police involved shootings in Ferguson, Mo., and he invited the U.S. Department of Justice to review the department’s use of force after an outcry on police involved shootings.
Ramsey said he only supports lawful stops called Terry stops, named after a 1968 Supreme Court ruling upholding an officer’s right to pat down a person suspected of criminal activity.
But Ramsey also racked up serious credentials as a police reformer within the department.
Advertisement
Ramsey joined the Chicago Police Department as an 18-year-old recruit in 1968. He rose through the ranks to become Chicago’s deputy superintendent of police. Almost two-thirds of the more than 1,200 officers hired under Ramsey have been white and about 20 percent were black, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Black officers account for 248 of the new hires, with about 15 percent being Hispanic, Asian or other races.
