Charles Ramsey


Commissioner, Ret.
Philadelphia Police Department

Former Co-Chair
President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Charles Ramsey is former Co-Chair of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing from 2014-15, and former Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), from 2008 to 2015. Since 2010, he has served as President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Police Executive Research Forum. Commissioner Ramsey began his law enforcement career in 1968 as a cadet with the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

Over the next thirty years, he held various positions with CPD, including Commander of the Narcotics Division, Deputy Chief of the Patrol Division, and Deputy Superintendent, a role he held from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, he was named Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), where he served until early 2007. In 2007, Commissioner Ramsey served on the Independent Commission on Security Forces of Iraq, leading a review of the Iraqi Police Force.

Ramsey brings over fifty years of knowledge, experience, and service in advancing the law enforcement profession in three different major city police departments, beginning with Chicago, then Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. He is an internationally recognized practitioner and educator in his field and is a Past President of both the Police Executive Research Forum and the Major Cities Chiefs Association. He is currently a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, an advisor to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is a Founding Partner in the consulting firm 21st Century Policing Solutions, LLC. Commissioner Ramsey received a B.S. and M.S. from Lewis University.