Ramsey calls his plan to add 200 police officers to patrol in the most violent districts "a good start," and he wants to get even more officers on patrol.
But he bristles at complaints or disappointment expressed by some officers and commanders because he didn't do enough:
"Well, they ought to give me a little bit of a break here. I've only been here three weeks. I don't know what they are looking for here. You know, my name is Ramsey, not Moses. I'm not parting the Red Sea here. It's going to take a little time for me to get a feel for the department, capabilities of individuals, and they are probably talking about changes in personnel as opposed to structure. But that's what I am doing now."
More changes are coming. Commissioner Ramsey says he is reviewing the organizational chart and drafting a reorganization of the department. And he says the city must upgrade the terrible police facilities:
"Well, actually, the way in which you phrased my view of the facilities was probably better than I would have done, because you would have to bleep me out if I gave you my true feelings about that. In short, our facilities are in terrible shape. And we have to do something to fix them up. You can't expect people to act in a professional way all the time when they are working in conditions like that."
He specifically cited the cramped and dirty homicide unit, with bags and boxes of evidence piled high, and detectives, witnesses, and suspects all within feet of each other. He says in some cases conditions have hurt morale and performance:
"I'll sit down with the mayor. And he's aware and already stated he is concerned about the state of the facilities that we have to deal with. And we will sit down and come up with a long-term plan for capital improvement. You know, it is very costly. You can''t expect to do it all at once."
The commissioner believes he's already sent a strong message with a color change-- from blue shirts to white shirts for sergeants:
"They are managers. They are supervisors. They need to look like it and feel like it. I mean, one of the most important supervisory ranks in any police department is the first line supervisor. Yet, you know, walking around with the blue shirt and stripes you can't tell them apart from the officers."
This order -- and the cost to sergeants -- concerns the police union. The commissioner's response: stuff like that happens.
