Nationwide — DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha Ramos, an African American woman who made history as the county’s first female police chief, says that she was placed on administrative leave and given an ultimatum to either resign or face termination. She now seeks to clarify the circumstances of her departure.

Ramos, who has led the department in Georgia’s fourth most populated county since 2019, said she was given 21 days to make the decision. “If I don’t resign, they’ll terminate me,” Ramos told WSB-TV. “I want people to know that I didn’t just step down voluntarily. I would not have just left without saying goodbye to our community and our officers.” 

Although Ramos was placed on administrative leave, she insisted she did nothing wrong, though being placed on leave made it seem otherwise. She acknowledged that if she made any mistakes, they were unintentional.

Under her leadership, DeKalb County saw a significant drop in crime. In 2023, violent and property crimes fell by 13%, though rapes and homicides slightly increased. So far in 2024, homicides have dropped by 77%, a statistic Ramos considers a major achievement.

She also addressed the county’s police staffing issues. With only 527 officers, the department is nearly 300 officers short of its budgeted numbers. However, she noted that the decline in officers started before her arrival in 2014 and continued each year, except for 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson declined to comment on Ramos’ leadership. On the other hand, Ramos expressed support for the recent pay and benefits increases for officers, calling them long overdue and necessary for retention.

Ramos said her biggest accomplishment was strengthening community engagement, which a national report recognized. She also credited her recommendation of triple overtime to then-CEO Michael Thurmond for keeping enough officers on duty despite staffing shortages.

Although she is no longer chief, Ramos remains proud of her work and optimistic about what comes next.

“I have faith that I will be directed to where I need to go. I have faith that I have done everything that I could for this department,” Ramos said. “I lived and breathed for this department for five years.”