We may be seeing the Peter Principle in play in the case of Charles Ramsey. Word is Ramsey, the former D.C. police chief, is in the running to become the new top cop in Baltimore. Before Mayor Sheila Dixon entrusts the safety of her citizens and the well-being of her police officers to Ramsey, she might want to drive down I-95 and go undercover in the capital city.

Dixon might get a different read from the streets than she’s getting from the suites. Chuck Ramsey always showed well in the executive offices and played well in the media, but his success in fighting crime during his nine years as DC police chief is very much in question.

When Ramsey arrived in D.C. from Chicago in 1998, he reminded the rank and file police officers how deficient they were, in his eyes. He brought in a coterie of executives from Chicago, paid them well, and gave them nice offices. His message to local cops was they didn’t measure up.

Granted, Ramsey had plenty of ammo to judge the cops harshly. Upon his arrival, the Washington Post published a series portraying D.C. police as trigger happy, unrestrained and undisciplined.

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But rather than wading in and reforming the department himself, Ramsey invited in the feds. He asked the Justice Department to investigate his cops. It was the first time in this country’s history that a local police chief actually asked the feds to take over management of his department. In 2001 Ramsey signed an agreement that gave federal bureaucrats control over many aspects of policing, including the hiring of a law firm to monitor the cops.

The D.C. police were in need of reform, but some changes were in place even before Ramsey called in the feds. Seven years later, the Metropolitan Police Department runs better. No question.

But Ramsey’s style depleted morale among street cops. He instilled a punitive form of management. He and his top managers ruled by fear. Hundreds of good cops left. In his last year, 30 were leaving the MPD every month; many of the rest policed from their cars.

True, some crime rates dropped, especially homicides. But dig into the demographics and Dixon will find that crime migrated out of the city, which made Ramsey look good.

Ramsey’s crime stats looked funny to cops and residents. When they said the streets were more dangerous, Ramsey hauled out his stats showing reductions. But cops told me Ramsey and his leadership encouraging commanders to reclassify crimes to lesser offenses. And after he left office, police “revised” crime stats.

For example, rather than dropping in 2006, aggravated assaults were level and robberies had gone up. The truth shocked Ramsey’s political supporters; the real numbers confirmed the sense among residents and cops that the books were cooked.

So hire Chuck Ramsey, but understand what you are getting. He might look good before the cameras, but your front line cops might suffer, and the streets of Baltimore might become even more perilous.

hjaffe@washingtonian.com