RICHMOND, Va. -- In the days following Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith’s sudden resignation as leader of the Richmond Police Department, the CBS 6 Problem Solvers reached out to all nine Richmond City Council members for their reactions. All but two council members, Cynthia Newbille and Ellen Robertson, responded.
Newbille and Robertson serve as council president and vice president respectively.
Smith's resignation came amid criticism of his performance and concerns about the state of the city’s public safety. Even before Smith’s resignation, a majority of the other council members publicly spoke out with concerns about the Richmond Police Department during public meetings, newsletters to their constituents, and statements to the press.
Following a September closed-door meeting between council members and Smith in the aftermath of the heavily scrutinized alleged July 4th mass shooting plot, 8th District representative Reva Trammell declared she no longer had confidence in Smith. Trammell also serves as chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee.
Council members Andreas Addison, Katherine Jordan, Kristen Nye, Stephanie Lynch, and Mike Jones all said they also left that meeting with lingering concerns and questions about the mass shooting plot investigation.
While court proceedings for the men accused by Smith to be involved in the plot are still playing out, no evidence of a planned mass shooting attack has yet been revealed.
Additional concerns brought forward by council members in recent weeks and months include low morale among officers in the department, mounting police officer vacancies, and “internal issues” within RPD.
Here’s how every council member has responded since the announcement of Smith’s resignation on Tuesday:
Andreas Addison (1st District)
“Change is needed for our city to move forward together. Our increase in crime, loss of officers, and poor morale in the department require new leadership to restore trust within the force and across the city,” Addison said in a statement to CBS 6. “City Council looks forward to working with the administration on hiring the best next leader for our city.”
Katherine Jordan (2nd District)
“In this next chapter, I look forward to a chief who can rebuild trust internally and externally, and unite both the department and community as we continue the work of reimagining public safety in Richmond,” Jordan said in a newsletter to her constituents. “I expect an expansive search for that candidate and thank Major Edwards for serving as our interim in the meantime.”
Jordan also said she acknowledged the challenges Smith faced when he took the job two and half years ago.
Ann-Frances Lambert (3rd District)
“I was really surprised. I thought I would have gotten a heads-up, but really it was kind of shocking. There were rumors and folks were talking about ‘it was time,’ but again, it was something that the administration had to choose and decide on,” Lambert said in an interview with CBS 6.
(Note: Mayor Levar Stoney has denied having any part of the decision-making process in Smith’s resignation and a spokesperson for the city’s Chief Administrative Officer, who oversees city departments, has not answered questions about whether Saunders requested the resignation.)
Lambert said she believed concerns about Smith’s leadership boiled down to what she called “personality issues.”
“In my opinion, it felt like the officers just didn’t really engage with him. It was not a lot of communication from the top down,” Lambert said.
She added that she “felt bad” for Smith.
“He was coming into a situation that was really unprecedented. We’re dealing with a pandemic, we’re dealing with civil unrest, and on top of that, he lost his father. So at the end of the day, we’ve all got to give each other some grace,” she said.
Lambert said she hopes both the council and police officers are involved in the process to find the next chief.
Kristen Nye (4th District)
“Chief Smith handed in his resignation, being decided it was time to move forward, and I think as a city, we’re accepting it,” Nye said during an interview with CBS 6.
She said she’s looking forward to the national search for a new chief that “works for everyone.”
“I think first and foremost, the new leader needs to be a strong communicator and strong uniter of the rank and file as well as the citizens. We really need to see a strong presence on the ground and within the police force and our city streets,” Nye said.
Stephanie Lynch (5th District)
“I wish Chief Smith all the best in his future endeavors and wholeheartedly stand behind our public safety officers, interim RPD leadership, and our administration as they begin a diligent search for a new chief,” Lynch said in a statement to CBS 6.
Ellen Robertson (6th District, Council Vice President)
Councilor Robertson did not respond to CBS 6’s request for comment.
Cynthia Newbille (7th District, Council President)
Councilor Newbille did not respond to CBS 6’s request for comment.
Reva Trammell (8th District)
“I think Chief Smith did the right thing. I think he realized it was a little too late,” Trammell said in an interview with CBS 6. “Where’s our police officers? We don’t have them. Why? They’re gone. We’re trying to get them back, but who wanted to come back under these kinds of conditions when you have officers and a city council person screaming and hollering we have no confidence in [Smith].”
Trammell said she was disappointed in Smith’s performance as chief and was upset Smith did not take accountability for what she considered to be mistakes.
“If you make a mistake, say you made a mistake and let’s move on. I never heard that,” Trammell said.
She looks forward to working with the interim leader, saying, “I want to work with [Acting Chief Richard Edwards]. I want to work with him, and I pray to God that the mayor and the chief administrative officer let him do his job.”
“If we would’ve just stayed quiet, it wouldn’t have been good for this city,” Trammell said about her persistence in speaking up about Smith. “It’s a new day.”
Mike Jones (9th District)
“I think it’s the right thing to have happened just with everything that we’ve been hearing, everything that’s been going on,” Jones said in an interview with CBS 6.
When asked if Jones saw Smith’s resignation coming, he said, “I knew it was heading somewhere, that something drastic was going to have to happen. Either there was going to be a true, strong sit-down to really deal with the concerns of the rank and file or maybe some type of separation, and it looks like that’s where we came to.”
On morale and other internal RPD issues, Jones said, “When employees begin to share their concerns about leadership and direction, I think that’s something we have to take into account.”
Jones also acknowledged 2020 as a difficult time in law enforcement when Smith took over. He thanked Smith for his service.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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