Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she would be nominating Assistant Chief Robert Contee to lead the Metropolitan Police Department. The Council will need to advise and consent on the Mayor’s nominee, a process that will be led by the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.

The following is a statement from the Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, Councilmember Charles Allen:

“First, I want to congratulate Assistant Chief Robert Contee on his nomination, the next step in the accomplished career of a D.C. native who has risen through the Metropolitan Police Department’s ranks. I’ve known Assistant Chief Contee for many years, including his previous role as 1st District Commander, and I have a deep respect for him and his service.

In the new year, the Committee will announce the confirmation process for Assistant Chief Contee. Given the important moment we are in as a community and a nation, and the central role the Chief of the Department will play in the future of public safety and policing, the public will play an important role and the Committee will create several ways for input to be heard.

I will be looking to hear from the nominee not just about how the Department has changed during his tenure, but about where he wants to take the Department in the future – and how his approach to leadership will address the challenges in public safety and policing that we face as a city. This moment demands someone prepared to tackle systemic racism in the District and within policing culture, repair relationships in the communities served by MPD, advance a public health approach to eliminating violence, and use the law and Constitution to demonstrate empathy, humility, innovation, and vision."

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