Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department, and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbia, in the United States. With approximately 3,200 officers and 600 civilian staff, it is the sixth-largest municipal police department in the United States. The department serves an area of and a population of over 700,000 people. Established on August 6, 1861, the MPD is one of the oldest police departments in the United States. The MPD headquarters was formerly located at the Henry J. Daly Building, located at 300 Indiana Avenue NW in Judiciary Square across the street from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. However, in 2023, MPD moved into One Judiciary Square located at 441 4th St NW when the Daly Building started extensive renovation and refurbishment. The department's mission is to "safeguard the District of Columbia and protect its residents and visitors with the highest regard for the sanctity of human life". The MPD's regulations are compiled in title 5, chapter 1 of the District of Columbia Code.
The MPD has a broad array of specialized services, including the Emergency Response Team, K9, harbor patrol, air support, explosive ordnance division, homeland security, criminal intelligence, narcotics, and the violent crime suppression units. The MPD also operates the Command Information Center which monitors hundreds of cameras across the city, license plate readers, ShotSpotter, and many other intelligence and surveillance devices.
The MPD has a unique role in that it serves as a local police department, with county, state and federal responsibilities, and is under a municipal government but operates under federal authority. They are responsible for operating the district's sex offender registry, approving all applications for motorcades, protests, demonstrations and other public events, and maintaining the district's firearm registry.
Duties
While the MPD is the primary law enforcement agency in the city, it shares its jurisdiction with the Transit Police, responsible for policing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metrorail and Metrobus systems; the United States Park Police, which provides law enforcement for the National Mall and all other National Park Service properties; the United States Marshals Service, which acts as the city's sheriff; and many other federal agencies. However, the MPD ultimately remains the primary agency in the city and has the authority to investigate all crimes in the city regardless of the location it took place.Under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, whenever the President of the United States determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police for federal purposes, the president may direct the mayor to provide, and the mayor shall provide, such services of the Metropolitan Police force for up to 48 hours. During longer periods of time, the president must provide to Congress in writing his or her reasons for continuing control of the MPD. This control can be extended at any time beyond 30 days if either the emergency continues or if Congress passes a law ordering it. During this nature of emergency, the MPD is considered a federal law enforcement agency.
History
19th century
As the American Civil War raged on, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln took a personal interest in the formation of a regular police force for the U.S. capital. Washington had quickly filled with soldiers, government employees, and citizens hoping to cash in on the war. The crowds, crime, and the constant threat of enemy spies, had made the capital into a rowdy city barely under control. After the formation of the Metropolitan Police and its governing Board of Commissioners by Act of Congress, signed into law by Lincoln on August 6, 1861, Lincoln dispatched a member of the board to study the New York City Police Department and its structure.The Metropolitan Police replaced previous law enforcement organizations. Before the formation of the district in 1801, county constables had jurisdiction over the area, along with the comparatively developed police force for the City of Alexandria. Within the City of Washington, the first police superintendent was named in 1803, and the city divided into four policing wards, each under a constable, in 1804. Yet another force, the 16-member Auxiliary Guard of the City of Washington, was established by Act of Congress in August 1842, purportedly because President John Tyler had been burned in effigy, and had rocks thrown at him on the White House grounds. The formation of the Metropolitan Police dissolved all these previous authorities.
The Metropolitan Police Board unanimously chose one of its members, William Benning Webb, who was commissioned as a major in the army, to serve as the first chief of police, the formal title being "Major and Superintendent". The Police Board initially divided the district into 10 precincts. The First Precinct constituted the portion of Washington County east of the Anacostia River, while the Second Precinct included the county territory north of Washington City and between the Anacostia and Rock Creek. The Third Precinct comprised the remainder of Washington County west of Rock Creek, including Georgetown and the island of Analostan in the Potomac River. The Fourth through Tenth precincts corresponded respectively with the First through Seventh wards of Washington City. Beginning immediately, Superintendent Webb worked to organize the department which had an authorized strength of ten sergeants and as many patrolmen as needed, though not to exceed 150. The majority of the new department was hired by September, with the superintendent of police salaried annually at $1,500, sergeants received $600, and patrolmen were paid $480. The officers worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week with no holidays or vacation time. At first officers were issued no uniform or badges and had to purchase their own firearms. The U.S. Capitol building was chosen as the back drop of the MPD badge a month later and today's badge has changed little from the original. The first arrest by an MPD officer was for public intoxication.
At the urging of U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia Ward Lamon and United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, President Lincoln agreed in November 1864 to have bodyguards, although he felt that the president of the United States should not have found it necessary to have guards at all. Superintendent Webb had four MPD officers assigned the task of guarding the White House grounds and accompanying the president on his walks through the city. However, Lincoln did not want this fact made public, and the officer's orders were not made official, and they wore plainclothes with their revolvers concealed. One of the officers, William H. Crook, the most well known of Lincoln's original guards, would go on to serve under five other administrations and wrote down his recollections in a book, Through Five Administrations. He became close to Lincoln and accompanied him to Richmond, Virginia, at Lincoln's request after the city was captured. Two officers would begin their shift at 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. They were then relieved by an officer who stay until midnight and was then himself relieved at 8 the next morning.
In December 1864, A. C. Richards became Major and Superintendent, a post he would hold through the next 14 years. Richards was present at Ford's Theater the night the Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. In one of the lowest points of the MPD's history, the police officer who was to guard Lincoln that night, John Frederick Parker, had left his post at the door to Lincoln's box, presumably to get a drink at the bar across the street. Officer Crook, who had been on duty that day and had been relieved by Parker who was several hours late for his shift, would place blame in his book on Parker for Lincoln's death.
After Booth had fled the theater, Major Richards began organizing the activities for investigation until it was taken over by Secretary Stanton. In the hours immediately after the assassination, MPD officers enforced closures of all places of entertainment and helped seal off the city. They patrolled the streets on horses alongside members of the Military Provost. That night on April 14, 1865, an MPD detective entered into the daily blotter: At this hour the melancholy intelligence of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln President of the U.S. at Fords Theatre was brought to this office and the information obtained... goes to show that the assassin is a man named J. Wilks Boothe. It remains the most famous entry in the MPD's records. A tip provided to MPD detectives indicated that the Mary E. Surratt Boarding House at 614 H Street was linked to the assassination. The tip would lead to the eventual trial and execution of Booth's conspirators.
In 1871, the first MPD officer was killed in the line of duty. On Friday, December 29, 1871, Officer Francis M. Doyle and several other officers attempted to gain entry to the house of a thief to recover stolen property. When they forced the door, the wife of the suspected thief fired at them, striking Doyle in the chest and killing him instantly. Although the wife was arrested and tried for the murder, she was acquitted. Officer Doyle was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the US Navy, and had been with the MPD for five years. He was 38 years old at the time of his death and was survived by his wife and three children. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
The MPD is the only police department that has arrested a sitting U.S. president. During his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant was known to speed in his horse and buggy on Washington's streets. The MPD had issued him three different citations for this offense. On the fourth occasion, Grant was arrested on M Street for racing, and his horse and buggy were confiscated. When brought to the station however, the officers became unsure if a sitting president could be formally charged if he had not been impeached. Grant was allowed to pay a fine but had to walk back to the White House. In 1878, Congress abolished the Metropolitan Police Board, and its duties were taken over by the newly formed DC Board of Commissioners, established by Congress to govern the entire district. That year as well, Thomas P. Morgan was named to replace Richards, who had resigned, as Major and Superintendent. Although a police fund had been established during the MPD's first year to assist those officers injured in the line of duty, Morgan would add to this by establishing a retirement fund for older officers who could no longer perform their duties.
On July 2, 1881, the MPD took part in investigating the assassination of President James A. Garfield. The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, approached Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station and fired his weapon twice, hitting Garfield. Although Garfield had no bodyguards, MPD Officer Patrick Kearney had been nearby and arrested Guiteau before he could leave the station. Kearney took Guiteau a few blocks away to the station to be booked where the small pistol that Guiteau had used was discovered inside his jacket pocket. The officials at the station at first refused to believe Kearney's claims that Guiteau had shot the president. The detective blotter would note the shooting, investigation, and arrest as well as Garfield's death several weeks later.