Efforts to replace him have been unclear. No description of the process, a specific timetable, or progress updates have been provided publicly since Contee’s departure. Aides close to the mayor either declined to comment on the search or could not be reached. The chairman of the D.C. Council said he has not been involved, and the chairwoman of the council’s public safety committee said she has talked to Bowser but has not been privy to interviews and does not know the names of the candidates.
Two internal candidates have potentially emerged, according to several officials in police headquarters and at the Wilson Building, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive, internal discussions. They are assistant police chiefs Morgan C. Kane, a 25-year veteran who oversees part of the patrol bureau, and, a veteran of the U.S. Park Police who spent 14 months as its chief before leaving in 2022 to become the D.C. police department’s chief equity officer.
Kane, reached earlier this month, declined to comment. She, along with Smith, did not respond to additional inquiries last week. Kane had been mentioned as a possible chief in 2020, though Bowser chose Contee. Officials familiar with the search process say Kane has strong advocates on her behalf, though they cautioned that there is no leading candidate. Officials have declined to discuss other possible candidates, including those from outside D.C.
“Let me look you in the eye, and let me metaphorically look your listeners in the eye: I am not going to Washington D.C.,” he told WBAL Radio on Jan. 6. Two days later, when he announced his departure from Baltimore, theEfforts to reach Harrison over the past several days were unsuccessful. D.C. officials in the mayor’s office declined to comment on Harrison, who said at a news conference he was leaving to rest and be with his family.
The chiefs in Chicago and Louisville left after changes in city leadership; the chief in Charleston, S.C.,