Mayor Muriel Bowser has named Peter Newsham, an assistant Metropolitan police deputy as interim chief.
Peter Newsham, a 27-year veteran of the department will fill the role after Chief Cathy Lanier retires.
Newsham will be taking on his new role starting September 17, 2016. He has been a part of the police department since 1989 and has served as assistant chief of police since 2002.
The mayor says she's still looking inside and outside the department for a permanent replacement.
Continuity is one big thing Newsham has going for him. He's been at Lanier's side for years. He'll take over when she leaves for the NFL next month.
He also has some fierce critics. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the liberal advocacy group Partnership for Civil Justice called him "a mass violator of civil rights" and said he participated in "an extraordinary cover-up" when police rounded up World Bank protesters back in 2002. That round up ultimately cost the city more than $8 million in damages in federal court.
Along the city's bustling H Street Corridor, people had some clear ideas on what they want in a new chief. “If a policeman stops me today, I'm not reaching for anything in my car,” said disabled Vietnam vet Terry Lampkins, an African American. “I'm going to ask the police if I can step out of the car with my hands over my head.” He thinks the new police chief has to do something to change that.
But culinary worker Efrem Perkins said he’s looking for “someone with the same emphasis as Cathy Lanier. Someone who can keep the city safe. I travel late at night, so I'm looking for that security.”
In a news release, Mayor Bowser said Newsham, "believes in the power of building relationships with communities as the best way to deter and solve crime." He heads investigations now, which puts him at the center of the city's highest profile crimes.
Newsham has been a finalist for police chief jobs around the country, but has failed to land one. Several police sources blame some old controversies in his personal life, and they say that makes him a longshot for the permanent job.
Some members of the police union have privately been pushing for another of Lanier's assistant chiefs, Rob Contee. But Sgt. Matthew Mahl, the union chair, said he has had a great relationship with Newsham. “I've heard stories regaled to me of how outstanding a patrol officer he used to be. He came up through the ranks like Chief Lanier.”
Mayor Bowser said when she gets down to a short list for the permanent job, "a small group of community stakeholders will be involved in vetting the final candidates."
