WASHINGTON — Mayor Muriel Bowser announced her choice for an interim chief of D.C. police Tuesday.
Assistant Chief Peter Newsham, a 27-year member of the force and current leader of the Investigative Services Bureau, violent, property, sexual assault, and narcotic crimes, will take over as interim chief Sept. 17.
Newsham will serve as interim chief while Bowser searches for someone to fill the position permanently after D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced her retirement last week. She is one of the nation’s longest-serving and most popular big-city police chiefs.
Newsham has been with the Metropolitan Police Department since 1989 and has been assistant chief of police since 2002.
“Like Chief Lanier, Peter has deep roots serving the District and believes in the power of building relationships with communities as the best way to deter and solve crime,” Bowser said in a statement. “… He is experienced, smart, compassionate, and most importantly, he knows what it means to walk a beat, to manage a team, and to serve the residents of the District of Columbia.”
A search for internal and external candidates has begun, the mayor said in the statement; a group of “community stakeholders” will be involved in vetting the finalists.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Watch the interview with the interim police chief from WTOP’s partner NBC Washington.
