because they have a job to do. if i say nothing, they're going to report something anyway. so that is kind of where i'm at. c-span: i had a piece of paper that said district crime data at a glance and i go back to 1993. were you on the force? >> guest: yes, i was. c-span: what year was that? >> guest: 1990. c-span: this plaster there were 88. what happened? >> guest: a lot of things have happened. i think the initial decline down

to the 200 range declined over about a tenure period and this is part of the crack cocaine epidemic. the violence associated with crack cocaine markets, we had 200 markets in the city when shootings would happen and they would be drive-bys and six or seven people would be killed in a single incident. as it started to weigh in, if you look at drug patterns, drugs tend to spike in popularity and they remain there about 15 or 16 years. then they go down. so the epidemic is no more.

but it's nowhere near what used to be. with the absence of that driving the violence, we got stuck there for a long time. we were 169 in 2006, 181 and 2007, and we were persistent with gang violence. it was kind of born in this way an accelerated. so even one crack cocaine went away come again to do then. coming down from that down to where we are now, we have a 54% drop. it has been a constant focus on the games. just really staying focused and bringing the community and to work with us. that has been absolutely key in dropping mad at last 54%.

c-span: the mayor at this time was marion barry. running a short video clip of him speaking at the press club at this time. >> nearly half of those have targeted killings that occurred. communities plagued by high unemployment and a high rate of school dropouts. seeing a family suffer social ills that have had a negative effect on the poorest among us. we look at a map of what could occur and we will see that there are about 30% of the market turn to police districts. the seventh district in the fourth district in northwest washington. these murders are targeted killings. c-span: what did you hear there, and what we doing in 1989?

>> guest: the fourth district is referred to where i started. when i started there but after going to the academy, we had about a week's worth of riots in mount pleasant where the entire area was just completely out of control, looting, burning, and they torched about six or seven of our police cars in the riots. that is very accurate description. c-span: what was it like for you when you started on the street? >> guest: the city was a very different place. it was in shambles. we just didn't have any cars and so i walked on foot for a few years. the first car had 127,000 miles on it that i was assigned to. financially the city was broken. so it may policing that much more challenging with equipment and resources. but i enjoyed walking on foot, i believe that was my favorite assignment. i learned more by being embedded

into a community, knowing everybody, being so sensitive to things that i had noticed. if a car was parked in a certain place at a certain time. and i think that is one of the most effective forms of policing. c-span: my first thought is you are not that tall. because you don't look that tall and pictures how tall are you? >> guest: i am 5'11". c-span: what did that play as a part in your life as a policewoman? being tall? >> guest: i think it's really a missed thing -- it's a misconception. leasing is so much more about communication.

being a good communicator. so i can't ever think of a time that my height has ever played more of a role. and people say, gosh, i didn't know you were that tall. c-span: a couple of years ago i remember that you and michelle rhee were all under 40 years old. how old are you now? >> guest: i'm 45 years old. i remember the headlines. i remember there was an article in "the washington post" and it was interesting because someone had, you know, done little bubbles in our heads, and it says you have a 36-year-old man and a byline that was, we are giving it part of his generation, don't blow it. and i thought, that's precious.

c-span: how do you think you job? >> guest: i had been the district manager. i was in charge of the fourth district. right after i took over the fourth district, an individual took over and he was very high speed, very big on accountability. we had a lot of the same personalities in terms of really focusing on accountability and responsiveness. we worked very well together. then i didn't see him for a couple of years. when he was running for mayor he stopped in to visit a couple of times and i have not seen him for a couple of years. i think it was the sheer fact that adrienne knew how i police, he knew how i managed, and he knew that my priorities were similar to his. and i remember telling him when

he asked if i wanted a job. he said i was going to take a huge hit he appointed me. so they would be jumping around, i'm 30 years old and i'm a white female. and he's like, i know that you can do the job. c-span: people behind your back call you blondie, is that right? [laughter] >> guest: yes, so when i go into the neighborhood where i used to work, i will run into people all the time that i encountered who yell blondie out. everyone in washington dc has a nickname. c-span: that an officer or viewers said hey, blondie -- [laughter] >> guest: they still do. you have to remember that i have been on the force for 23 years. i am the average number for age. you know, the vast majority of us. i have worked alongside and work

with supervisors and managed the vast majority of the people on the force in a memo by first name. that is a huge advantage when he. c-span: who is your boss? >> guest: i have a couple of boxes, the city administrator is one of them. c-span: if you look at how many police departments there are in this area, and it's 25. >> guest: the supreme court has a police department and they police the street for it. it is almost as large as mine that polices the capital. so other than the metropolitan police and to a certain extent,

the metro transit police to control the transit system, everyone else is very narrowly confined. we are the only police department and the city. if you dial 911, it is my phone will ring and not theirs. c-span: what happens if something happens to a public official and they must go to the hospital, we've had many cases of that over the years. who is in charge of nine? >> guest: it depends on who that person is. if it is a protect the of the secret service, they would be legally supported. if it is a state department protect the comedy would be supported. but regardless of who it is, any homicide statutorily should be investigated. c-span: what is the best training for a policeman? >> guest: the best training you can get to become a really good police officers to understand what it's all about.

i will say that until the day i die. you learn how to develop sources, you learn how to have intelligence information. you learn how to leverage relationships in the community and that is the key. people in the community trust you. they will tell you the things that are happening so that you can intervene. i've really learned a lot from those relationships. c-span: why did you give a commencement address at a high school in 2010? >> guest: my son, who i am so proud of graduated and they asked me if i would give a commencement speech. that is the most stress i've ever had in my life. my son graduated from there. as a mother of the school, it was very stressful to give that speech.

c-span: let's take a look at a little bit of the speech. >> guest: okay. >> kids from my neighborhood were bused into another neighborhood for school. that is when my life began to change. i was bused to a neighborhood in fairmont heights and each day from the first day when the kids on my bus got off the bus, they were promptly jumped by the neighborhood kids who did not think that we belonged there. this went on for about two years. i began to skip school and missed class and get into trouble. i went from a straight a student in the talented and gifted program detailing the eighth grade because of attendance. which is why was so impressed with the 750 some days without a day off. but honestly, no child can learn in an environment where fear generates all day long in the

school. c-span: jumped? why? c-span: >> guest: i don't think you learn this in washington dc, but one thing is pervasive. it is what drove a lot of these issues up until today. it is neighborhoods in washington dc that seem to be just territorial that are owned by the people, and the neighborhoods are very territorial. everyday when we got off the bus, it was kids that came from two different areas. and eventually we figured out that we could combat this by joining forces and shoving them when they got off the bus. you know, we got a little better at it. but it was just a horrible experience for kids to try to go to school and learn in that environment. that is why i put so much emphasis now on making sure that kids can go to school and be

safe. c-span: how many kids do you have? >> guest: i have one child. c-span: you know when you started this job, your personal story everyone wanted to talk about it. i have to ask you because there are people out there that have never heard the story. what is it that happened when you were in junior high school? >> guest: my personal story was more important my first year as a police chief in washington dc than you could ever imagine. i guess the interest is that i ran away from home and dropped out of school. fourteen, 15 years old, got married, had my son is 15 years old. i was a single mom with a ninth grade education. in the 19 hearing here and started with a ged. basically a ninth grade education. but over the last 20 years, because i made that decision to drop out of school, i have spent 20 years trying to catch up and

go back to school. now i have two masters degrees. i have tried to make up for that it is the hard way. c-span: why did you run away from home? >> guest: i was a teenager and thought i knew everything. i had been failing school, i thought i was in love, i wanted to get married. then i got pregnant. c-span: where did you live during that time? >> guest: a small apartment outside of washington dc i was raised by a single mom. my mother is the sole reason that i am where i am today. she was obviously devastated. she was a wonderful mother. did everything right. she lives with me now and i take care of her. she stood by me when i got divorced and i moved back home. my mother had very little money. she was very poor, she took me and my son back in the little

she had, she shared with us. she helping to raise my son. she helped me to get him into a private school and pay some of the bills with the little money that she had. she made it possible for me to be where i am today. my mother has been great. c-span: over the early jobs you had to make money to . >> guest: my mother was a secretary. i worked as a waitress. i started working when i was 15 years old and i work two jobs the first three or four years. so i was working as a secretary during the day and working as a waitress during the night. c-span: what is your relationship with the average person out there? >> guest: as horrified as i was, i was just horrified that some of the headlines in the press said what they did. i think there was one mother tapped to be the top cop.

but honestly i think that over time for the people that i interact with and work in the community every day, the people that i try to help, i think for those folks, they do not see it as bad at all. they see it as opportunities and we can make regardless of circumstances. we know that it gives me a different perspective. there are a lot of people that are poor living in these communities. my mother didn't do anything wrong, we lived very poor, she was patient, we worked hard. so i think it helped for me to be able to relate to people and people to relate to me. c-span: i read that your two brothers are firemen? >> guest: yes, my brothers a deputy chief just outside of the first district. my eldest brother just retired her mother brother is a police

captain. c-span: tibet have that have an impact on you getting into police work? >> guest: probably a lot. i didn't have a lifelong dream to be a police officer. my older brother started in the police department. and i really wasn't interested. i had a good job, i was working and i like the jobs that i had. i remember when they had the big push for police officers. not long after that. advertisement in the paper saying that they were doing a mass higher and in the end, what caught my eye because of the time i only had a ged in our time the back-to-school so i could put my son in the battle better school. i was taking one or two classes at a time.

c-span: i have a quote from something you said in 2005 before you became a police chief. no experience in my life has had more of an impact on doing my job and going to israel. can you explain? >> guest: chief ramsey, who is the former police chief asked me to take over the special operations division immediately after 9/11 and he wanted me to re-create basically the capabilities of our police department in terms of homeland security and counterterrorism. so i traveled all over the world looking at and studying homeland security issues and intelligence.

we are watching a place that terrorism is every day. it is one of the most eye-opening things for me in terms of trying to develop policy. i don't see our country or city living like that. so it really inspired me to put together a very strong capability in the police department. c-span: would you change? >> guest: everything. that was a wake-up call that should have come after oklahoma city and it didn't. it was far too late, we should've done it before that. completely changing the culture of local law enforcement to understand our duty. to understand our responsibility. it is such a big one.

to keep our cities safe from terrorism. it has evolved some since 9/11. but it is all the same thing. you know, we have radical individuals and state-sponsored terrorism, all of those things. understanding that regardless of what that threat is. local police have a huge role in preventing it to begin with. but we have to be prepared when something happens. but no additional loss of life happens and i can you give us an idea of something that is done on a daily basis that is not a violation of intelligence? goes on here? >> guest: yes, i have about 15 people that are assigned inside a different agencies. the fbi, joint task for us, some of the other counterterrorism

forces. i get briefed three or four days a week with classified information. and i will always do that. i want to know not just what is happening in the region in terms of what we know the president is in the types of cases being worked on, but also looking at global issues because they all have an impact or could have an impact here. so that drives how i train my police officers. immediately i have to shift gears and start to shift my agencies capability in response. so that goes on, they say, just about every day. c-span: how often do you hear of a threat in the area and then you never tell us about it? >> guest: it is hard to measure how many things.

but there are things that we just don't show. i mean, for a lot of reasons are things that we just can't show or share. c-span: going back to the headlines, you say that you like to give information. but how often do you say no comment to . >> guest: that is one of the challenges. back on the anniversary of 9/11, there was a legitimate credit threat. i made a decision after a briefing to move my department to 12 hour shifts and deploy a plan i had to increase visibility and send out special teams uncover critical of the structure and things like that. so how do you mobilize everybody on 12 hour shifts and have this incredible shift in visibility

in the press says, why are you doing that. well, you can't say because we are working a specific credible threat. so i find ways to message not. knowing that that is going to be how this works, i make the specifications for the union. so they know that there is a reason i am doing it. i can share it with you now, but there's a reason i can. also knowing that threat would go public. this is the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we are going to make sure that we have are people out there. the threat was revealed a day later, but at the time i had to say something. i couldn't do that without answering to the press. c-span: the only place i can find anybody speaking negative about you is the chairman of the police, the union, who is chris baughman nyc so irritated?

>> guest: that is just chris. that's the way he is. if you look back when chief ramsey was the chief, he did exactly those same things and i have compared articles that have used the exact same quotes and uses about me. that's the type of leadership that he does. he likes to constantly attack management and me. c-span: were you a part of the union? >> guest: yes, of course. i don't even think of my department as union and nonunion. his job is a union chairman and his philosophy is to attack. and i don't think chris personally doesn't like me. i just think that that is his -- that is his style. c-span: i read a quote that this is an administration without honor and the leaders are out to enrich themselves at the expense

of the public. >> guest: yes, that is just chris. i mean, i look back at some of the articles and he has them all up on his website he attacked chief ramsey. lindsey fired back pretty hard. i don't get caught up tonight. i can't let his tactics result in negative press. he wanted to send content defend yourself. the press is always looking for this. whenever the press is looking

for something with a negative comment, i know that is where they are going to go. there is another city council member that has been given a six-month probation or whatever it is i think that this is part of the issues and it is embarrassing. because this is the guy that

signs your paycheck, essentially. so i try many things are going on, i tried to keep the police department in focus. we have to stay focused. that is why the police department is a shining star. we have integrity, we have an incredible reputation with responsiveness and we do a great job in fighting crime. c-span: is their police department around the country that you admire for doing some things that you have taken some ideas from? >> guest: i constantly look and i have searched. there are constantly things and other agencies are doing. a lot of innovative leaders out there around the country. when i first started the

counterterrorism business here in washington dc back in 2002, a look at what new york was doing. new york does a lot of great stuff, although you have to remember some things that are very effective. but i constantly look at what is going on. c-span: you did a study at the naval school that he published. he talked about the 9/11 commission, and it should've asked, he said, why there are officers didn't know that terrorists were operating in their communities.

z i'm not going to be sitting in front of the next 9/11 commission. and have somebody say what dow do when i gave you that information? i always take some action. because intelligence is intelligence. it's not perfect. it's as good as a weather forecast. you can tell me the barometer is x and cloudy today and 50% chance of rain. take my umbrella. it may not rain at all. i'm going take my umbrella. that's my philosophy. >> host: how much of a threat is there today compared to what there was back in 9/11? >> guest: people ask me all the time how often do you get credible threats? we do think there's something

overt going happen? it's not what people think. i've seen eleven and twelve years kind of a lead for intelligence here in the city, i've seen about ten times when there was truly, you know, a case working where there was a threat here to washington, d.c. the fbi does a fantastic job. it's not an every day. the threats come and go. we have spikes in threat streams that come in. we have occasionally multiple sources. the same type of threat which is very concerning. it's ebbs and flows. >> host: what is the worst thing somebody can say on any given day. >> guest: in term of threat? >> host: when if you say -- this is got tounge to be a good day? >> guest: there's a lot of things that make me feel that way. >> host: what kind of things that come to your level? >> guest: well, i think i

probably involve myself in a lot of levels than i should. the things that ruin my day, credible threat steams when they come in. obviously. officer misconduct. i have a very, very aggressive position that i want my internal affairs to actively deal with integrity check and atbresessively look for misconduct and corruption. when we get cases where we have corruption, that just -- that's one of the things that bothers me the most. those are the two. >> host: this sunt a corruption situation. i want to show you video i know you have seen before. it's snowball fight. >> guest: yes. >> host: i want to get your reaction to this. [inaudible conversations]

>> he's got a gun? [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> do not shoot anyone over snowballs. [inaudible conversations] >> host: what is that? >>[laughter] >> guest: this was one of the places where i learned a little bit of a lesson in terms of the press so. this is during a big snowstorm where we had large group of

people who through social media had organized this very large snowball fight with a pretty serious storm. the roads were impassable in a lot of areas. it was anoff offduty dkd driving. he has a nice car, an suv. he's getting pelted with the snowball. he stops the car and get out. of course, he's not in uniform. nobody knows he's a police officer. gets pelted with snowballs. so in the force of the melee he draws his weapon. when the first call came from are the press we heard there was a officer drawing a gun on the snowball fight pitches in a -- crime briefing and i have like i don't have time to give a statement. i grabbed one of the assistant chief. look at the video and give a statement. the officer drops his cell phone and picks it up. we're like it's not a gun. it's not a cell phone. i tell the chief to make a statement that it's not a gun. it's a cell phone.

then we see the other video later he has a gun response lesson learned there about sacrifices. but secondly, you need to know all the information before you give conclusive statement. it was a nightmare. i got hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and calms and letters. people were so outraged over that. it was a -- a media nightmare for almost a year. >> host: i have a bunch of terms when i was doing the research on the interview i want to ask you about. they are things in law enforcement. what is zero-tolerance? >> guest: it is a -- zero tolerance became very popular after the beginning of the tran for-- transformation in new york. he had applied a zero-tolerance approach in new york. they went after the minor

offenders. it worked very well. very well. so it took off in term of a trend in police. it's not one i think works very well here. i think it's been -- we have done it. i think it has some l of the opposite. >> host: why here? >> guest: because back to my first at the same time when -- statement when we first opened up. my philosophy, what i feel with our community here -- an camp. we go an community where there's a lot of shooting and murdering. we go there and flood the area with police and tell them to lock up anybody for any violation of the law. they do. they get the guy with an expired permit and take them to jail. take the lady with open alcohol container. even this is the area with the most violation. it's the area with the most victims and witnesses. and those witnesses are not going haunt you. the perception there. why took over as police chief was you said send the all the

cop in here. they lock up the son for not having a permit and my grandmother and the cops at the station process and the arrest. and the criminals take over the neighborhood. the perception to the community was we're working in can hoot with the bad guys or don't care. when you do the -- i pulled the zero tolerance teams out of there. and people start to get to know the police and get to know you by name and provide information. there was one particular community where we -- drove homicides years after years. after two years with the foot patrol we dropped it down to one murder an entire year. the murder was closed because we got information. >> host: how can somebody tell especially another police officer that works for you when you're mad? >> guest: it depends.

let see, the most opportunity for people to see me mad is in my crime briefing. if i have somebody who in a crime briefing discover they have information who didn't share with other people that needed it an additional crime could have occurred or another crime could have occurred. i think my body language makes it obvious. i don't have any problem, you know, telling people especially if they are people i have appointed to positions to make sure that these things are getting done. i think it's pretty obvious the person isn't going to be there very long. i'll move a person in heart beat if i put them a join put them do. >> host: as a person in command which what is your troamtion others getting command for the first time in the way you treat people and how tough do you have to be? do you tough in the beginning and loosen up later? what advice would you have?

>> guest: for me. all the -- in fact all of my executive staff we came up together. we competed in promotional test together. i have at love respect for them. i think the thing that is most important is that everybody that works for me knows that you could be my best friend. i had scenarios where i have people i have personally been friends with for a long time. if you're in a leadership position and responsible for particular area, and you're not making it, i have to move you. i have to move you. i might have mow you. i don't have any choice. it's not personal. it's not about you. i have to get the job done. people have entrusted me to get the job done. i have to get the job done. it's not an easy thing. it's required if you're going to be a leader. that's accountability. >> host: so i've saw a lot of stories about your salary that tick you off?

only in a sense -- >> host: you make $250,000. >> guest: only in a sense. a the love lot of stories they talk about the top three salary in d.c. myself, the school chancellor, and the city administrator. in that article they refer to me by name and kia henderson by name. the female schools chancellor. they never mention the city administrator who is male and makes more than us. i thought it was sexually biased. if you compare my salary to other major city chiefs and particularly with the, you know, comparison my salary doesn't stand out at all. it's not a big deal at all. i wonder if i was male if it would matter. >> host: who gets the most money as a police commissioner? >> guest: i don't know who it is now. i know, chuck ramsey is up there. >> host: in philadelphia. >> guest: yeah. in philadelphia. chicago is up there. and then if you look at size of force, if you compare the size

of force. there are police chiefs that have police departments -- there's police chiefs in the region here that the police departments a quarter of the size of what i have, that are making close to what i make. you have to weigh a lot of that stuff too. >> host: several years ago, i don't know twenty, thirty, forty years ago, the population break down in the city was 70% african-american. it's now 50% african-american, 38% caucasian, and others. what happened? where did the african-americans go? what difference does that make today at all? >> guest: the population has shifted. i would say that has occurred at least initially it was fairly guard l. started about ten years ago. there was an acceleration in the last five years. i think the city is a under the last -- tony williams administration i had put together the visionary. >> host: the mayor.

>> guest: yes, the mayor. put together a vision for the -- he it gateway project and things like that to turn the any a good direction. which he did. and of course with doing that one of the things that i think was a good decision to move away from public housing concentrated poverty to a section eight, you know, motel in place now. a lot of those public housing come protect -- complexes that flustered poor folks in poor living conditions to get rid of those. as he moved through the vision, a lot of those public housing complexes were destroyed. there are homes in the area now. i think some of those are dispersed around the city now and section eight property. some took section eight property outside the border of the district. the more the district develops and the more development doing on -- there's a lot 52 or 53 cranes in

the city right now doing jobs. and if becomes more expensive to live here. i think you'll see a lot more of not just african-americans, but the lower income folks being inched out. >> host: the population going up for the first time in at love years. >> guest: it's skyrocketing here. i just did an 189-month analysis of the economic development in the city. because it impacts my policing. i put together a five-year strategy for policing. really over the next five years policing is going to be looking different because the development in the city. it's amazing. >> host: the president said he wants more police out on the street. does that make sense? >> guest: that's where they have to be. >> host: do you need more? >> guest: of course. that was the whole purpose of my study. and five years as a chief i have never said i need more cops. i'm watching -- as a part of our crime protection we monster a lot of things that are not traditionally monitored by the police. the economic development and the type of development going on here is going to impact workload

for us with a population skyrocketing the the way it is would be entertainment venues skyrocketing the way here. and the crowds and the nighttime population is as big as the daytime. i'm going need more officers. not a fixed number of officers, we need to be flexible. i think we are going to continue to grow the forest a little bit now. >> host: what does it mean? >> guest: [inaudible] [laughter] >> host: do you like being called a cop? >> guest: you know, some of the names we get -- i actually think are kind of fun. you know, in d.c. people, i mean, in the neighborhoods where we police and fight crime, they don't call us cops. they call us the popo. i think that's an affectionate term between the criminal element and police. for years we were called five

0. we would ride to a neighborhood that was a drug market in the cocaine days. they would yell 5-0. >> host: 121 officers in the direct. if the numbers are right have lost their live as plam. i think 61 or so were killed by a gun being shot. how much do you worry about that? how often does it happen on your watch? >> guest: i worry about it every day, and in the past couple of years we have done some very risky operations to go after the most violent people in the city. the guy in the unit that work the operation know that every day single morning when we would talk get updates how these operations are going, it was a decision for me each daytime to shut it down. time to shut it down. you are taking such huge risk. and they are great police officers. they know the risk. they are very good at what they

do. i worry about it every day. we have had lots of officers shot since i was chief. i have officers killed killed in traffic-related incidents. thank god we haven't lost an officer to gunfire in any recent. >> host: how much control do you have over -- you know it's a big issue in the direct. the camera. i think didn't the district raise $192 million. >> guest: the traffic control? >> host: yes. is that yours? >> guest: yes. it's mine. i was the commander of the homicide unit back in '97, i want to say. we had 76 traffic fatality in the city. that's when the population was smaller and we didn't have the bicycles and the pedestrians. we had 19 last year. i'm a huge believer in photograph enforcement. bottom like is if '02 traveling in a car at 30 miles per hour and strike a pedestrian or bicycle, they have 80% chance of living. if you strike them at 40%.

they have an 80% chance of dying. that's the fact. you slow people down, fatality go down. people slow down in the city because the $100 ticket doesn't feel very good. [laughter] i know. >> host: you're going keep it up? >> guest: i am. >> host: what about the idea -- do people think there's a quo that on traffic control people? , i mean, the parking and you send the people out on their segue to put those tickets on cars? do they have a quo that? >> guest: that's not me. i'm happy to say the parking enforcement is done by another agency in the city. i want to go back to what you said a moment ago about the camera and keeping up with the camera do is people don't realize the majority of police officers that get killed in the line of duty are killed in traffic incident. we've had officers killed in traffic incidents here doing traffic enforcement.

it also frees my officers up to go up and do the proactive policing we need to do. so for me the cams are a win all the way around. the money doesn't come back to my budget. it's not coming back to me. i'm seeing the number of people losing their life drop dramatically. i'm taking a huge risk off of my officers from my officering with killed in dangerous areas. the high speed areas some i won't put an officer. third street tunnel. there is a lot of advantages to the camera. people i think really that look at public safety as whole appreciate it. >> i want to show some video back in 2008, it's associated press report on guns, and get your reaction to what is going on today. >> in the nation's -- u.s. supreme court striking down a ban on hand guns in the district of columbia. the d.c. government uphold the ban. the strictest in the country

saying it curves violent crime. crime that would only get worse with guns and homes. an issue how do interpret the second amendment? does it protect a individual's right to own gun or apply to the collective right of states to maintain malicious. it was ratified in 1791 but the court has never before given a definitive interpretation. they say it violate the second amendment. guaranteeing one's right to self-defense. they say outlawing guns has little effect stopping the city's violence. >> host: what can d that impact by the supreme court have on your job? >> guest: very little. honestly. and people know so little about it. there's such a proseption you have never been able to register a firearm in d.c. i've had people say thed had elevate down now since they overturned the gun ban in d.c. the only thing the decision did -- we been able to register.

just had to be long gun. we about 1600 semi automatic handguns registered. itst 0 only personal to have hem in -- to defend their life or defend a burglar. not one since heller. we've had zero impact on crime. i can't think a case where legally registered handgun has been stolen yet from a home. my only fear was -- we have officers homes to targeted to steal firearm. maybe people would start to steal -- but nothing. other than we've had some suicides, you know, involving registered firearm. other than that heller had no decision no bank impact on police. >> host: if the president called in and said, chief, what should i do? what would you recommend based on your knowledge?

>> guest: in the most recent debate? >> host: what would do you? >> gthinry city chief would agree with me. you can't prevent every incident. you have to try to reduce the harm when bad thing happen. large capacity magazine. there's no reason for large capacity magazine other than, you know, devastation. i think the gun show loophole is huge. i mean, everybody agrees that you should not be selling firearms to felonies and criminal and things like that. the assault weapons. i feel for the gun collectors. my fathers and brothers are hunters. down in southern virginia everybody has a gun. it's safe because they have to have gun safety course. i think those three things would significantly reduce the number of casualties we see. we're not going stop everybody from getting them whether

they're legal or not. i think it's important for the government to institute policies that at least are aimed to try to reduce the harm associated with bad events. >> host: what would do you about the school? do you do anything now about the -- >> guest: we have policed the schools here for a long time. i have about 100 officers that are assigned to -- they don't stand in school. we have security that does, you know, security for the school, but i have about 100 officers that -- the high schools primarily. they also do the elementary schools. i'm going to continue to keep a police officer presence in schools. i don't believe that police officer should be stationed at the door and inside the school. >> host: i noticed when you arrived today you are armed. >> guest: always. >> host: what do you carry? >> guest: glock.

.9 millimeter. >> host: why? >> guest: it's something the department issued when i came on. we have had it for years. >> host: however fired it? >> guest: i have. >> host? >> guest: i had an attacking pit pitbulls gosh, i want to say 95. i discharged a the the bit pitbull. struck and killed one. >> host, i mean, was there any other choice? >> guest: no. >> host: how often does an officer working for your department his use a -- misuse a firearm? >> guest: over the years, you know, we have had bad patch of years in the early '90s. i'm sure you found in the literature, but we have few accidental charges and few unjustified dangers. three years ago, we went an entire year without one single

police-related shooting death. and, you know, in a city like this with 658,000 calls for service. the number of use of force with a firearm is so low. i think each year since i've been a chief there may be six or seven consistents a year where n against an armed asal i can't. very low number here. >> host: how many people dial 9-1-1 a year? >> guest: i believe 658,000 a year. >> host: how many are significant? >> guest: that's tough question. >> host: how many of them fruitless? >> guest: let me put it this way, i would say about 35% of them are the top priorities. those are real i need the police

now. >> host: you know, if you life here. i have lived here if are long time. you can rate the importance of a individual by the number of d.c. police that are leading his or her path through the streets. the president, had he moves, has how many vehicles and how many policeman? >> guest: i wouldn't comment on that. we never give number on security. the it's the president of the united. lots! >> host: is it better off -- if we didn't know he was in a vehicle. we wouldn't get, you know, terribly excited. when you come through, i've counted, eight, ten police either motorcycles or police cars coming along with it. i mean, i'm sure you are thought it out. >> guest: i have. i used to run the unit at ramsey. >> host: is that hard to do? get red i i did to move the president around the town? >> host: it is. it is very dpiflt and keep the city moving.

the vice president and the president and the first lady moving around every day, and this is a busy city. but, i mean, i think, one, dignitaries move around with the big escort off the record that you don't know about. but, i mean, it's the president of the united. the schedule is public. if it weren't public the press would be accused of hiding somebody. when somebody is that important who has a public schedule, for them not to not have that type of security it's dangerous. >> host: chief of police of the washington metropolitan police department. we are out of time. we thank you for yours. >> guest: thank you. ♪

q & a programs are available at c-span pod cast. mayor and council chairman faced each other in one of the most contentious and expensive elections in d.c.'s recent history. he raced nearly $5 million in an attempt to hold on to the seat. vitamin sent gray raised $1.12 million. he won the public over as an effect i have chairman. he beat fenty. shortly after gray took office in 2011 browne who also ran for mayor told "the washington post he was paid and promised a job in exchange during the election. federal investigators soon

discovered that many much of brown's story was too. -- true. they uncovered a bigger secret. the shadow campaign. >> basically you had a campaign going on. the regular campaign you see. then you had another set of folks who were in an officer right next to the gray campaign. now during the campaign, there is so much going on, so you several workers, actually, complaining several official workers complaining about the other workers because they felt they were getting paid more. there was a lot of confusion as to who was paying them. , and not it wasn't until a year later that folks started putting things together when federal investigators began asking questions. they realized wait a minute. the folks who were next door, we can't find any record of them in the campaign finance records that we see. so how do those folks get paid? who was in charge of them.

looking at corruption in d.c. city politics. tonight on encore presentation of first ladies. >> all of his life, jackson liked women. he loved her mother and saw her as a mother figure. it couldn't bear to see what he saw the abuse of the woman. when they fell in love, they decided to elope which was spanish territory at the time. over a year, i believe, and when they came back, they simply said oh, we're married now. her whole family included her mother said, yes, this is our son-in-law andrew jackson. and who is going tell them no? who is going to say, no, what about that other husband? people just accepted it because

the family, neighborhoods, and friends accepted it. the encore presentation of the original series, "first ladies" continues tonight on c-span. glmpleght author and activist randall robinson is the founder of transafrica. an organization of african-americans advocating for human rights in africa and people of african dissent. we talked to him on the program in depth. this is three hours. >> host: what does america owe blacks? >> guest: well, it owes them an acknowledgment of what happened. we don't like to talk about that in the states. even blast history month. there's a truncated version of what woodson had in mind. now it starts in slavely and moves forward