A parked MPDC cruiser.
The
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of
Columbia, also known as the DC Police,
DCPD, MPD, DC
Metro, and MPDC is the municipal police force for
Washington,
D.C.
It is one of the ten largest police forces
within the United
States
.
History
Upon the
establishment of the District of Columbia, the states of Maryland
and Virginia
appointed
constables to patrol the city. In 1802, the city was given
police primacy and appointed a Captain of the Watch and 15
watchmen. The modern-day Metropolitan Police Department was
officially formed on August 6, 1861 in accordance with the personal
wishes of
President
Abraham Lincoln, who had taken a
personal interest in the establishment of regular police for the
nation's capital.
Duties
The department's duties include the provision of police services to
the city and its inhabitants and to supplement the various
Uniformed Federal Law Enforcement agencies (primarily
U.S.Secret Service,
U.S. Park Police, and
U.S. Capitol Police) in the city,
with whom the department exercises concurrent jurisdiction.
Additionally, due to its location within an independent federal
city, the department must exercise the standard functions of a
local police force and also handle certain activities normally
considered within the domain of a
county
police or
state police agency such
as a
sex offender
registry.
Leadership
The current Chief of Police is
Cathy
L. Lanier, who began her career
as a MPDC patrol officer, and is the first female chief of the
department. She assumed her post on January 2, 2007, replacing
Charles H. Ramsey, who had served under former
Washington, D.C. Mayor
Anthony
A. Williams and is now
Philadelphia Police
commissioner.
Ranks of the MPDC
There are eleven ranks in the Metropolitan Police Department of the
District of Columbia:
Police districts
Demographics
The department maintains 4,050 sworn officers and 600 civilian
support staff, making it one of the ten largest police forces
within the United States. The department historically has been
known for hiring a large number of
African American police officers during
times when African American police officers were uncommon in other
police departments. In 1968, African Americans constituted 25% of
the department's force and in 1970 constituted 35% of the
department's force the highest percentages of African American
police on a large police department at the time. In 1978, the
department became the first police department in a major city in
the United States to become majority African American. The
department currently has one of the highest percentages of African
American officers amongst United States Police Departments, at 66%.
The remainder of the department is 28% White, 5% Hispanic, and 1%
Asian. Males account for 76% of the force, while females make up
24%.
In media
Author
James Patterson features
Washington DC police detective
Alex Cross
in the Alex Cross series of books.
The syndicated
CBS television series
The District dramatized the
daily goings on of the police department.
In the
1997 film Murder at 1600, an
MPD homicide detective (portrayed by Wesley Snipes) investigates a murder at
The White
House
.
The TV series
NCIS has
several references to Metropolitan PD, with several interactions
with the Local LEO and NCIS.
The 2009 season of the TV series
24 on Fox starring Kieffer Sutherland
has featured the MPDC in a few episodes which centers around a
terrorist plot against the White House. The MPDC are shown working
with the FBI and other major government agencies.
In the movie
True Lies,
Arnold Schwarzenegger knocks a Metro
Police Officer Mounted Unit to the ground and confiscates his horse
for the pursuit of a terrorist.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Department, 120
officers have died in the line of duty.
The cause of deaths are as follows:
| Cause of death |
Number of deaths |
| Accidental |
2
|
| Aircraft accident |
2
|
| Animal related |
1
|
| Automobile accident |
8
|
| Bicycle accident |
1
|
| Drowned |
3
|
| Duty related illness |
2
|
| Fall |
3
|
| Gunfire |
61
|
| Gunfire (Accidental) |
7
|
| Heart attack |
4
|
| Motorcycle accident |
12
|
| Stabbed |
1
|
| Struck by streetcar |
1
|
| Struck by vehicle |
4
|
| Vehicle pursuit |
2
|
| Vehicular assault |
6
|
See also
References
External links
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