Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- When Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier demoted three black assistant chiefs last month to streamline the department's top brass, Ronald Hampton feared that something other than a drive for efficiency was taking place.

Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association, joined with the NAACP civil rights group in seeking a meeting with Lanier, who is white. The demotions, said Hampton, 62, show that the department is ``insensitive to the communities of color.''

The incident underlined a growing sense of unease among some black residents that their influence is waning as the size of their population majority shrinks and the wealth gap with whites widens. Anxiety has risen as developers gentrify Washington neighborhoods such as the U Street corridor, where Duke Ellington played, and Columbia Heights, where racial tensions spurred riots in the 1960s. Some of the frustration is turned toward Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Since taking office in January, Fenty, 36, who is black, has appointed whites to top city government posts, including fire chief and city administrator, as well as police chief. He named a Korean-American to head the school system and an Indian- American as chief financial officer.

``It's the new African-American syndrome, where race is less on the forefront of many politicians' minds,'' said Lila Ammons, a professor of black studies at Howard University in Washington. ``Twenty or 30 years ago, blacks thought it was important to have a predominantly black government. That dynamic has changed.''

Weary Supporters

Dee Hunter, head of a U Street residents group, said of Fenty, ``Even some of his strongest supporters have grown tired of trying to defend the racial makeup of the Cabinet.''

Fenty said he is firmly committed to diversity.

``We will continue to make our Cabinet as diverse as humanly possible,'' he said in a statement.

Lanier, 40, said in an interview that three white chiefs also were reassigned or retired, out of eight assistants when she took the post. The police brass is racially mixed and as ``committed and as responsive as possible,'' she said.

Things have changed since Washington was celebrated in a popular 1975 funk song as ``Chocolate City.'' The black population shrank to 55 percent last year from a peak of 71 percent four decades ago, as many longtime residents and business owners were pushed out by escalating rents. William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, predicts that the black population will fall to 50 percent by 2015.

Income Gap

Recently released Census data show a vast difference in median income in 2006 -- $91,631 for whites and $34,484 for blacks. The gap is the second-widest in the U.S. based on race, behind Atlanta's, Frey said. Almost 80 percent of Washington's 108,100 residents living in poverty are black.

Changes are most pronounced in areas such as Columbia Heights, which gained notoriety as a flashpoint for race riots in 1968 after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Several businesses were destroyed during the riots and weren't rebuilt for decades.

Today, the neighborhood boasts new condominiums, yoga studios, high-end restaurants and furniture stores. The plush chairs and jazz music sounding throughout the brick-walled Columbia Heights Coffee shop contrast with the boarded-up and fenced-in buildings that are the view from its front window.

Down the street, a $90 million, 235-unit condominium project with restaurants and shops is being built. Adjacent to the subway stop, which opened in 1999, a shopping complex under construction will include Target, Best Buy and Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.

Priced Out

``All of that's good for creating jobs and refueling the economy,'' said Nykeesha Peterman, 29, a black law student and city resident. ``I'm more concerned when the black population, or just the population that previously could afford to live here, can no longer afford to live here.''

Erica Byrd-Thompson sees signs of change in the park near her home.

The park, once a popular play area for children, is now dominated by dogs and their mostly white owners, said the 28- year-old black retail manager. That makes it difficult for Byrd- Thompson to take her 2-year-old daughter to the park or her nephew to play softball there.

``His team has to worry about sliding in who knows what,'' she said.

`Murder Capital'

City Council member Marion Barry was mayor of Washington for 16 years until 1998, a period when the city was dubbed the ``murder capital of the U.S.'' Still, Barry, 71, who represents a ward where 54 percent of residents live below the poverty line, said the district is worse off than 20 years ago because of the poverty and weak education system.

``The D.C. government needs to focus on building a lot more affordable housing than we've been doing,'' Barry said.

Gentrification means different things to different people, said Pamela Pinnock, 49, a black events manager at Busboys and Poets, a U Street corridor bar and restaurant.

``When black and brown people hear the word `gentrification,' they think it means white developers are coming and moving the black and Latino people out of the area,'' she said. ``White people think it means the neighborhood is finally getting a Starbucks or Whole Foods.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in New York at kchipman@bloomberg.net; Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 9, 2007 00:04 EDT