New D.C. police chief pledges ‘fair and equal treatment’ for LGBTQ community

Says role as ordained minister won’t impact efforts to provide services for everyone

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Acting D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith, whose nomination to become permanent chief is pending before the D.C. Council, said she is committed to providing “ fair and equal treatment” for all the city’s diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community, in her role as the city’s chief law enforcement officer.

In an Aug. 9 interview with the Washington Blade, Smith responded to questions raised by some in the LGBTQ community about whether due to her background as an ordained minister she may have biased views toward LGBTQ people based on her religious beliefs.

“ Thank you for that question, and I certainly welcome any questions that members of any community may have with respect to my faith,” Smith told the Blade. “ What I will tell you is I’ve been in law enforcement for 25 years. And I’ve always and will continue to provide fair and equal treatment to anyone who is subjected to any kind of threat or crime,” Smith said.

son Unit (LGBTLU), provides services to crime victims, outreach to community meetings, and “training and support to the rest of the department as well as the community.” a possible hate crime whenever they’re investigating or engaged in a case,” she added. “ We have a multidisciplinary team that works together on reported hate crimes.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on July 17 nominated Smith to become the city’s next police chief. At the time her nomination was announced Smith was serving as an assistant chief. A short time later, the mayor named her acting chief while her nomination was pending before the D.C. Council, which is expected to approve the nomination when the Council returns from its summer recess.

If her nomination is approved by the Council, Smith would make history by becoming the first African-American woman to serve as the permanent D.C. police chief since the department was founded in 1861.

Smith joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in May 2022 after having served as Chief of Police for the United States Park Police in the nation’s capital. Her more than 20 years of service with the Park Police included assignments at Park Police offices in New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

Among the topics the Blade raised with Smith during her interview was concern raised by some LGBTQ activists and other community activists that the shortfall of police officers that the department is currently facing has prevented the department from replacing members of the community liaison units, including the LGBT Liaison Unit, when members of those units retire or take other jobs.

Smith said she is committed to retaining the liaison units and doing all she can to keep them fully staffed.

The Blade asked Smith for her thoughts on calls by some community activists, including LGBTQ activists, for the decriminalization of prostitution involving consenting adults and for the police to de-prioritize making prostitution-related arrests for consenting adults.

“ Well, I think our position today and our position has always been that we continue to enforce the laws of the District of Columbia,” she said, adding that in the past several years D.C. police have focused more on targeting sex worker customers or “Johns ” in making prostitution-related arrests.

Smith said she was not familiar with the specifics of the D.C. police investigation into the unexplained death of D.C. gay resident Ernest Terrell Newkirk, 55, whose body was found May 28 on a Southeast D.C. street several hours after he attended an LGBTQ Black Pride dance party at a Capitol Hill gay bar. His partner of 21 years, Roger Turpin, said Newkirk’s wallet, phone, jewelry, and car were all missing at the time he was found.

Turpin has expressed concern that the detective initially assigned to the case declined to look for fingerprints on Newkirk’s car that was found two days later and was not interested in tracking down calls made by someone on Newkirk’s phone shortly after his body was found.

“And since we’re specifically speaking about the LGBTQ community, that translates to the LGBTQ community as well,” she said. “And my faith has nothing to do with me treating anyone differently,” she added.

“ I served when I came into the Metropolitan Police Department as the Chief Equity Officer,” she said. “And my role was certainly about fair and equitable treatment for every employee of the Metropolitan Police Department,” said Smith. “And for me, that transfers to the members of our community – our businesses, our visitors, our tourists here in the District of Columbia.”

Asked whether that policy would apply to members of the LGBTQ community as well, Smith replied: “Absolutely. Listen, we have many members from the LGBTQ community here in MPD, including a transgender sworn member currently up to the rank of a lieutenant.”

Smith added, “ We also have LGBTQ members in the reserve and volunteer corps supporting many functions in the department, including support of the LGBTQ Liaison Unit. We have a nationally recognized LGBTQ Liaison Unit.”

According to Smith, that unit, listed on the MPD website as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Liai -

“ While we have no officers who have been reassigned away from those units, we do realize that attrition takes a toll on any area of the organization,” she told the Blade. “And what I want you to know is the Special Liaison Branch, which includes the teams servicing the LGBTQ plus community as well as our immigrant, our interfaith, deaf and hard of hearing communities –they play an important role in servicing and connecting with our diverse community,” Smith said.

“And this is especially true now as D.C. prepares to host World Pride in 2025,” she said, referring to D.C. having been selected to host the 2025 international LGBTQ Pride event, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from throughout the world.

“And so, what I have done as an initial step within the last couple of weeks is that I’ve approved four vacancies to be filled in the Special Liaison Branch,” Smith said. “And two of those vacancies will be for our LGBTQ unit.”

The Blade also asked Smith how she plans to address the issue of hate crimes at a time when D.C. police crime statistics show that over the past 10 years, the largest number of reported hate crimes in the city are those that have targeted LGBTQ people as victims.

“ What I can say is in the department, we certainly have strong policies and training to make sure members can recognize hate crimes,” Smith said. “And officers have to report whether there are any indicators of

D.C. Police have said they have ruled out a homicide in the case because there were no signs of injuries on Newkirk’s body, but the cause of death has yet to be determined due to delays in chemical toxicology tests by the Office of the D.C. Chief Medical Examiner. A police spokesperson said the case remains under investigation.

Turpin said a new detective was assigned to the case and he is hopeful that police would aggressively investigate the case.

“ What I can do is see if I can obtain some additional information from our investigators on this side,” Smith told the Blade. She said she knows from personal observation that MPD detectives “ work very aggressively” on the cases to which they are assigned.

Asked if she has any message for the LGBTQ community in her role as Acting Chief of Police and in anticipation of her confirmation as permanent chief, Smith had this to say:

“ Well, I can say personally the LGBTQ plus community will see me. They will see me out and about,” she added. “ They will probably see me in spaces and places that they’re probably not familiar with seeing me in,” she said.

“And I plan to be very supportive. And if there’s anything that I can do to be of support to the LGBTQ community just as I would any other community, I would add, don’t hesitate to reach out,” she said. “If there’s anything I can learn new about various communities or different communities I’m open to that as well.”