Departing Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith had a final message for her critics amid an ongoing investigation into allegations that the department manipulated its data to make crime appear lower in Washington, D.C.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an interim report earlier this week on its investigation into the MPD. The report claimed that department leadership pressured and instructed commanders to downgrade crime classifications to lesser offenses, including those not included in the daily crime report available to the public. Smith was accused of propagating a “culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation.”
‘This person should’ve NEVER been in ANY position of power.’
The MPD hosted a Friday walkout ceremony for Smith after her resignation announcement last week. Her resignation is effective December 31.
During the ceremony, Smith denied the allegations against her, insisting that she “never will and never would have encouraged, intimidated, retaliated, or told anyone to change their numbers.”
“I hope you can understand this from a spiritual context because the theme of what has resonated in this place is one thing, and that’s God,” Smith said.
She claimed that “some folks” mistook her “passion for being the angry black woman.”
RELATED: DC police chief manipulated crime stats to make city look better, report claims
Pamela Smith. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“My passion is because I love this work. I love God’s people, but I dare not leave without saying something to my haters,” she continued.
Smith was taking on a preacher-like persona by this point, and she raised her gravelly toned voice and offered dramatic pauses as she listed to the crowd all the church-related activities she took part in over the years before declaring “there’s enough Jesus in me that’s gonna get me to heaven if I die tomorrow!”
Then she dropped an F bomb — kinda.
“I’m going to the Bible when I say this to my haters: F you,” Smith declared before issuing another dramatic pause to the crowd, which seemed a bit taken aback.
“I forgive you,” she said soon after. “I forgive you because the Bible makes it very clear. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, when he said to us, ‘Father’ — even in the pit of agony and defeat, he said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ God bless you, and God keep you.”
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Smith also called for an investigation into those who accused her of directing police staff to manipulate crime statistics.
Her departing speech was likened to a screaming meltdown.
“WTF?! DC’s DEI police chief Pamela Smith just had a SCREAMING MELTDOWN while giving her resignation speech, after she was caught fudging crime stats,” independent journalist Nick Sortor wrote in a post on social media. “This person should’ve NEVER been in ANY position of power. Especially in the nation’s capital.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized D.C.’s Democratic leadership for the district’s crime wave. He previously threatened a potential federal takeover if leadership failed to address the crisis successfully — and Trump did just that when he federalized D.C. police in August.
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President Donald Trump. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Former Police Commander Michael Pulliam was suspended in July after he was accused of participating in the alleged data manipulation.
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