Charles H. Ramsey was appointed Police Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department on January 7, 2008, by Mayor Michael A. Nutter. He retired in January 2016 after serving eight years as Commissioner and leading the fourth largest police department in the nation with over 6,600 sworn members and 830 civilian members. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Commissioner Ramsey began his career in the Chicago Police Department, serving for nearly three decades in a variety of assignments. He began his career in 1968, at the age of 18, as a Chicago Police cadet. He became a police officer in February 1971 and was promoted through the ranks, eventually serving as commander of patrol, detectives and narcotics units. In 1994, he was promoted to Deputy Superintendent and managed the department's education and training, research and development, labor affairs, crime prevention, and professional counseling functions.
Commissioner Ramsey served as the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia (MPDC), from April 21, 1998, to January 1, 2007. He was the longest-serving chief of the MPDC since DC Home Rule and the second longest-serving in Department history. Under then Chief Ramsey's leadership, the Department regained its reputation as a national leader in urban policing. Crime rates declined by approximately 40 percent during Ramsey's tenure. Community policing and traffic safety programs were expanded, and recruiting, hiring standards, training, equipment, facilities, and fleet were all dramatic upgraded. He also oversaw and participated in numerous high profile investigations and events in Washington DC, such as The 1998 murders of two United States Capitol Police officers inside the U.S. Capitol Building; The Y2K National Celebration in Washington, DC; The International Monetary Fund/World Bank Protests in April 2000; The Chandra Levy Murder Investigation, The 9/11Terrorist Attacks, The 2001 Anthrax Attacks; The 2002 DC Sniper Investigation; The funeral of Presidents Ronald W. Reagan and Gerald R. Ford and the 2001 and 2005 Presidential Inaugurations.
In 2007, Charles H. Ramsey was a security consultant to the Washington, D.C. Convention Center and the United States Senate Sergeant of Arms. During that year, he also served on the Independent Commission on Security Forces of Iraq, led by the former Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and National Security Advisor General James L. Jones. He headed a prominent group of law enforcement professionals that traveled across Iraq to review the state of Iraqi police forces and submitted a report to the United States Congress. In July 2009, He served as a member of the Cambridge Review Committee. An independent national committee to help identify lessons learned from the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In 2010 he oversaw the Kensington Strangler investigation, which resulted in the arrest of Antonio Rodriguez convicted of the strangulation murders of three prostitutes in Philadelphia’s Kensington District. In 2011 he served as a member of the Kennedy School of Government Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety. A group of renowned scholars and practitioners, who convened meetings over three years to set the public policy agenda for the policing profession for the next two decades. He was a member of the Executive Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, served on the National Homeland Security Advisory Council, and is also an advisor to the FBI’s National Executive Institute. He has served as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee for both the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Major Cities Chiefs Association. He currently serves as an advisor to the United States Conference of Mayors. In November 2016, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.
During his eight years as Police Commissioner in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Police Department made significant progress in driving down violent crime in the city. With a renewed focus on evidence-based policing initiatives, organizational accountability, and a neighborhood-based policing strategy, Philadelphia saw nearly a 25% reduction in violent crime and a 37% reduction in homicides. In 2014, Philadelphia experienced its lowest violent crime rate since 1985. In 2014, the Philadelphia Police Department was accredited by the Southeastern Association of Chiefs of Police.
Commissioner Ramsey holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in criminal justice from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the National Executive Institute. He completed the Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security in February 2008. Commissioner Ramsey has lectured nationally on community policing as an adjunct faculty member of both the Northwestern University Traffic Institute's School of Police Staff and Command and Lewis University and is an expert in the area of policing and homeland security. He was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University and served as an advisor to several police departments including Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, MI, Los Angeles, Sacramento, CA, University of Cincinnati, Miami Gardens and Wilmington, Delaware. He also has worked with the Police Executive Research Forum and police departments in the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Police on the West Bank.
In December 2015, the City of Philadelphia named the Philadelphia Police Department Training Academy Auditorium the Charles H. Ramsey Training and Education Auditorium. The United States Congress approved a U.S. Postage Stamp bearing his likeness presented by the United States Postal Inspector Philadelphia Division in his honor. In October 2018, he delivered the keynote address at the Grand Opening of the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C.
