DeKalb County police Chief Mirtha Ramos said Thursday she is stepping down from the job she’s held for more than five years.
Ramos has been on leave since Wednesday, according to DeKalb government spokesperson Dionna Smith. The police department’s second-in-command, Gregory Padrick, has been named interim chief, Smith said.
The county declined to say why Ramos is on leave, calling it a personnel matter. Ramos also did not explain why she is stepping down.
Ramos declined to comment further Thursday. Padrick could not immediately be reached.
Ramos was hired as the county’s first female police chief in 2019. She previously worked for the Miami-Dade Police Department for 22 years.
“It has been an honor to serve DeKalb County for the last 5 years,” Ramos said in a statement. “We have made amazing progress in securing competitive pay for officers, reducing the violent crime and homicide rates, and regaining the trust of our citizens.”
Earlier this week, Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, the county government’s new chief executive officer, rolled out a plan for an investment of $10.4 million in recruiting and retention. The county has 841 sworn positions funded, but only 531 of those jobs are filled, meaning more than a third of the force’s positions are vacant. Cochran-Johnson said Wednesday that the $10.4 million otherwise would be spent on overtime.
In the 2024 fiscal year, the police department’s budget for salaries and overtime was $7.8 million, but more than $19 million was spent because of the steep overtime costs to operate a department with a severe staffing shortage, Cochran-Johnson said.
She said her proposal to invest the money in recruitment and retention is covered through her proposed 2025 operating budget. The county’s Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the countywide spending plan on Feb. 28. If the budget is approved, the police salary and benefit enhancements would go into effect in March.
Ramos began in DeKalb on Nov. 4, 2019, following an eight-month nationwide search after former Chief James Conroy announced his retirement.
“Chief Ramos has embraced community policing as an effective tool to reduce crime and improve public safety,” then-DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said when naming the new chief. “She is an innovative leader who brings a wealth of experience, training and professionalism to this important position. I am confident that our new police chief will dedicate herself to advancing DeKalb County’s public safety priorities.”
According to statistics provided by Cochran-Johnson, violent crime and property crime in DeKalb both were down 13% last year compared to 2023. In January, DeKalb police reported a 78.6% decrease in homicides compared to January 2024.
She said, however, that the county has “certain areas where the crime is absolutely horrible” and the police department is so understaffed that “there’s no opportunity, in my opinion, for true community policing.”
A native of Philadelphia, Ramos has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, and a master’s degree from Penn State University in psychology of leadership. She is also a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy.
Padrick, previously the assistant chief of police, has been with the department since August 1997, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps and attended the American Military University, his biography states.
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