Bold moves are expected of Mayor-elect Michael Nutter, and he made another one yesterday by naming former Washington Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey his choice to become Philadelphia's next police commissioner.
Ramsey's outstanding record, including a dramatic drop in crime while he was D.C. chief from 1998 to late last year, makes it easy to hail Nutter's decision. But it wouldn't be Philadelphia if controversy weren't attached to the new mayor's call.
First of all, resentment within the ranks can be expected; same as in 1998 when Mayor Ed Rendell brought in New Yorker John Timoney to head the department. Now, Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. is being bypassed to replace retiring Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.
Prior to his election, Nutter said he had not ruled out elevating someone in the department who had not flourished during Johnson's tenure. But yesterday he said he decided to hire the "best person for the department at this time," regardless of whether he or she was already on the force.
A good case can be made that the Philadelphia department again needs an outsider to take the helm. A complaint against Johnson has been that he isn't as demanding as he should be with subordinates who grew up with him on the force.
A second issue concerning Ramsey is his stamina. At 57, he's not that old, and he says politics forced his retirement in Washington. But he's been a cop ever since he was a cadet in Chicago at age 18. Johnson has appeared to be burnt out for months now. Philadelphia must have a police chief with energy to spare. Ramsey says that's him. We hope so.
Ramsey was also a candidate to become Baltimore's commissioner, but he learned last month that he wouldn't get that job. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon instead chose a 26-year veteran of that city's force.
With the Ramsey announcement, Nutter is again showing that he expects to hit the ground running in January. That's appropriate for someone who was a councilman and has been the presumptive mayor ever since he won the Democratic primary in May.
Ramsey will need to be primed for action, too, once he's in command. Job number one will be to reduce Philadelphia's murder rate, on pace to near or exceed last year's 406 homicides. Murders in Washington dropped from 301 in 1997 to 169 in 2006, the last year Ramsey was in charge. There are a number of factors for the decrease, but he deserves some credit.
Johnson and Ramsey have in common a strong belief that the community must help reduce crime. They're right. But as his days as commissioner have dwindled, Johnson has spent more time talking about societal ills leading to crime than about law enforcement. Ramsey must make it clear that how his officers do their job comes first.