13 Facts About Cathy Lanier

Cathy Lynn Lanier was born on July 22,1967 and is a former chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

Cathy Lanier is the first woman to hold the position.

Violent crime dropped 23 percent over the years Cathy Lanier was chief, and homicides plunged to a half-century low in 2012.

Cathy Lanier was the longest serving Chief of Police in the history of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

Cathy Lanier was raised in suburban Tuxedo, Maryland, on the northeast edge of the District of Columbia in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Cathy Lanier dropped out of high school after the ninth grade, and became a mother at the age of 15.

Cathy Lanier later earned a GED and Associate's degree at the University of the District of Columbia.

Cathy Lanier has both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in management from Johns Hopkins University and holds a Master of Arts in national security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; her thesis was Preventing Terror Attacks in the Homeland: A New Mission for State and Local Police.

Cathy Lanier attended an executive education program at Harvard Kennedy School.

Cathy Lanier had joined the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia in 1990 as a foot patrolman.

Cathy Lanier was criticized in July 2009 after claiming that motorists who used GPS navigation and smartphones to avoid traffic cameras were employing a "cowardly tactic".

Cathy Lanier has defended the practice of arresting individuals reselling tickets to sporting events, even if the tickets were sold at face value.

Cathy Lanier retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in September 2016 to become the head of security of the National Football League.