By Joseph De Avila

Pamela Smith, chief of police of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, is stepping down after two years in the role.

Smith, the first Black woman to permanently serve as the District of Columbia's police chief, said Monday she was ready for a break after serving in law enforcement for 28 years.

"I have been going nonstop," she said in an interview with Fox 5, a local affiliate in Washington.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, praised Smith's performance in a statement announcing her departure.

"Chief Smith dramatically drove down violent crime, drove down the homicide rate to its lowest level in eight years and helped restore a sense of safety and accountability in our neighborhoods," Bowser said.

Bowser, who said last month she won't run for a fourth term, appointed Smith in 2023, making her the first Black woman to lead the police department on a permanent basis. She previously served as the chief of police for the U.S. Park Police. She worked with the Park Police from 1998 to 2022.

Smith was put in the spotlight after President Trump sent National Guard troops to Washington over the district's objections and took command of the city's police force. Smith said the increased presence of National Guard troops didn't factor into her decision to step down.

Trump has criticized the nation's capital as rife with violent crime, saying the city needed "rescuing" from a "tragic emergency" of squalor and bloodshed. An Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last month, killing one and leaving another in critical condition. Trump vowed to send hundreds more troops to the capital in the wake of the shooting.

Bowser, who has opposed the National Guard's presence in the district, welcomed a judge ruling that its mobilization in Washington was unlawful. But the mayor acknowledged the National Guard's mobilization coincided with a drop in crime, including carjackings.

Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2025 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT)

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